The face of one of our most mysterious ancestors has been revealed for the first time after scientists used a groundbreaking technique to tease out facial features using just DNA.

Denisovans lived at the same time as early modern humans and Neanderthals, interbreeding with both before they became extinct, meaning we still carry some of their genetic code.

But archaeologists have only found a handful of teeth, one finger bone, a piece of jaw and a section of arm bone from six individuals in Russia and China, which has made reconstructing their anatomy impossible.

Now, instead of relying on bone structure, genetics experts instead looked at DNA code and specifically how different genes were expressed, which influence appearance.

“We provide the first reconstruction of the skeletal anatomy of Denisovans,” said Dr Liran Carmel, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

“In many ways, Denisovans resembled Neanderthals, but in some traits, they resembled us, and in others they were unique.”