The Rasmussen study also found evidence that Aboriginal peoples carry some genes associated with the [[Denisovan]]s (a species of human related to but distinct from [[Neanderthal]]s) of Asia; the study suggests that there is an increase in [[allele]] sharing between the Denisovan and Aboriginal Australian genomes, compared to other Eurasians or Africans. Examining DNA from a finger bone excavated in [[Siberia]], researchers concluded that the Denisovans migrated from [[Siberia]] to tropical parts of Asia and that they interbred with modern humans in Southeast Asia 44,000 years BP, before Australia separated from New Guinea approximately 11,700 years BP. They contributed DNA to Aboriginal Australians along with present-day New Guineans and an indigenous tribe in the Philippines known as [[Mamanwa]]. This study makes Aboriginal Australians one of the oldest living populations in the world and possibly the oldest outside Africa, confirming they may also have the oldest continuous culture on the planet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-oldest|title=DNA confirms Aboriginal culture is one of the Earth's oldest|publisher=Australian Geographic|date=23 September 2011}}</ref>
A 2016 study at the [[University of Cambridge]] by Christopher Klein et al. suggests that it was about 50,000 years ago that these peoples reached [[Sahul]] (the [[supercontinent]] consisting of present-day Australia and its islands and [[New Guinea]]). The sea levels rose and isolated Australia about 10,000 years ago, but Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from each other genetically earlier, about 37,000 years BP, possibly because the remaining land bridge was impassable, and it was this isolation which makes it the world's oldest culture. The study also found evidence of an unknown [[hominin]] group, distantly related to Denisovans, with whom the Aboriginal and Papuan ancestors must have interbred, leaving a trace of about 4% in most Aboriginal Australians' genome. There is, however, increased genetic diversity among Aboriginal Australians based on geographical distribution.<ref name=klein2016>{{cite web | last=Klein | first=Christopher | title=DNA Study Finds Aboriginal Australians World's Oldest Civilization | website=History | publisher=A&E Television Networks | date=23 September 2016 | url=https://www.history.com/news/dna-study-finds-aboriginal-australians-worlds-oldest-civilization | access-date=13 March 2020|quote=Updated Aug 22, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Malaspinas | first=Anna-Sapfo | last2=Westaway | first2=Michael C. | last3=Muller | first3=Craig | last4=Sousa | first4=Vitor C. | last5=Lao | first5=Oscar | last6=Alves | first6=Isabel | last7=Bergström | first7=Anders | last8=Athanasiadis | first8=Georgios | last9=Cheng | first9=Jade Y. | last10=Crawford | first10=Jacob E. | last11=Heupink | first11=Tim H. | last12=Macholdt | first12=Enrico | last13=Peischl | first13=Stephan | last14=Rasmussen | first14=Simon | last15=Schiffels | first15=Stephan | last16=Subramanian | first16=Sankar | last17=Wright | first17=Joanne L. | last18=Albrechtsen | first18=Anders | last19=Barbieri | first19=Chiara | last20=Dupanloup | first20=Isabelle | last21=Eriksson | first21=Anders | last22=Margaryan | first22=Ashot | last23=Moltke | first23=Ida | last24=Pugach | first24=Irina | last25=Korneliussen | first25=Thorfinn S. | last26=Levkivskyi | first26=Ivan P. | last27=Moreno-Mayar | first27=J. Víctor | last28=Ni | first28=Shengyu | last29=Racimo | first29=Fernando | last30=Sikora | first30=Martin | last31=Xue | first31=Yali | last32=Aghakhanian | first32=Farhang A. | last33=Brucato | first33=Nicolas | last34=Brunak | first34=Søren | last35=Campos | first35=Paula F. | last36=Clark | first36=Warren | last37=Ellingvåg | first37=Sturla | last38=Fourmile | first38=Gudjugudju | last39=Gerbault | first39=Pascale | last40=Injie | first40=Darren | last41=Koki | first41=George | last42=Leavesley | first42=Matthew | last43=Logan | first43=Betty | last44=Lynch | first44=Aubrey | last45=Matisoo-Smith | first45=Elizabeth A. | last46=McAllister | first46=Peter J. | last47=Mentzer | first47=Alexander J. | last48=Metspalu | first48=Mait | last49=Migliano | first49=Andrea B. | last50=Murgha | first50=Les | last51=Phipps | first51=Maude E. | last52=Pomat | first52=William | last53=Reynolds | first53=Doc | last54=Ricaut | first54=Francois-Xavier | last55=Siba | first55=Peter | last56=Thomas | first56=Mark G. | last57=Wales | first57=Thomas | last58=Wall | first58=Colleen Ma’run | last59=Oppenheimer | first59=Stephen J. | last60=Tyler-Smith | first60=Chris | last61=Durbin | first61=Richard | last62=Dortch | first62=Joe | last63=Manica | first63=Andrea | last64=Schierup | first64=Mikkel H. | last65=Foley | first65=Robert A. | last66=Lahr | first66=Marta Mirazón | last67=Bowern | first67=Claire | last68=Wall | first68=Jeffrey D. | last69=Mailund | first69=Thomas | last70=Stoneking | first70=Mark | last71=Nielsen | first71=Rasmus | last72=Sandhu | first72=Manjinder S. | last73=Excoffier | first73=Laurent | last74=Lambert | first74=David M. | last75=Willerslev | first75=Eske | display-authors=7 | title=A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia | journal=Nature | volume=538 | issue=7624 | date=2016-10-13 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature18299 | pages=207–214}}</ref>
[[File:Migration routes and their contribution to the East Timor mtDNA pool.gif|thumb|The initial human settlement of Oceania is estimated to have been between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. Archaeogenetic results indicate a colonisation of southern Sahul (Australia) before 37,000 years ago and an incubation period in northern Sahul (Papua New Guinea) followed by westward expansions within Australia after about 28,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gomes |first1=Sibylle M. |last2=Bodner |first2=Martin |last3=Souto |first3=Luis |last4=Zimmermann |first4=Bettina |last5=Huber |first5=Gabriela |last6=Strobl |first6=Christina |last7=Röck |first7=Alexander W. |last8=Achilli |first8=Alessandro |last9=Olivieri |first9=Anna |last10=Torroni |first10=Antonio |last11=Côrte-Real |first11=Francisco |date=2015-02-14 |title=Human settlement history between Sunda and Sahul: a focus on East Timor (Timor-Leste) and the Pleistocenic mtDNA diversity |journal=BMC Genomics |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=70 |doi=10.1186/s12864-014-1201-x |issn=1471-2164 |pmc=4342813 |pmid=25757516 |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]
