ost everyone knows that the islands of the South Pacific are some of the most remote and unique places on Earth, but a 2016 study revealed just how distinctive the area’s inhabitants really are.

Researchers found traces of a previously unknown human ancestor in the DNA of the Melanesians, a group of Pacific Islanders living throughout Papua New Guinea and the surrounding area.

Ryan Bohlender, a statistical geneticist at the University of Texas in Houston, reported the findings at an annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics on Oct. 20, 2016.

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According to Ancient Origins, a computer analysis suggested that the unidentified ancestral hominid species that researchers discovered is unlikely to be either Neanderthal or Denisovan. Because these are the only two known predecessors of humankind at this point, that conclusion is remarkable.

“We’re missing a population or we’re misunderstanding something about the relationships,” said Bohlender.

Read more: All That’s Interesting