A mysterious population of ancient humans lived in West Africa about half a million years ago.<br />And according to CNN, scientists believe their genes still live on in people today.<br />This "archaic ghost population" appears to have diverged from modern humans before Neanderthals split off from the family tree.<br />DNA from this archaic population makes up between 2% and 19% of modern West Africans' genetic ancestry.<br />The existence of Neanderthal DNA has been well established in modern European populations.<br />Denisovan DNA has been identified within Oceanic populations.
