This Creepy Skeleton Is Actually Human [PHOTOS]
Nolan has sequenced the mummy's DNA 15 times so far (industry standard is 50 times to get a complete, high quality, genome. Because over time DNA falls apart, a small amount of the genetic code obtained with each read isn't usable).
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With only 15 reads, 91% of the genome has been fully sequenced and matched up with human DNA, but Nolan told Business Insider that "the specimen is 99.9999999% human as far as I can tell." It shares DNA with people indigenous to the west coast of South America.
Pediatric radiologist Ralph Lachman, of the UCLA School of Medicine, examined X-rays of the specimen. He thinks the unusually large head may be the result of a condition called turricephaly (also oxycephaly).
The skeleton has only 10 ribs, which is almost unheard of. Most humans have 12 and a few have 11.
The face and mouth seem to be underdeveloped, which scientists call hypoplasia. They haven't isolated the genetic mutations that would cause these defects yet.
The pocket-sized person is no bigger than a scientist's eyeglasses. The bones of its spine, arms, and legs seem pretty normal, though.
X-Ray and CT scans matched the shape and proportion of the skeleton to those of humans, and prove that these are real human bones in this tiny body, refuting some people's theory that it was carved from whale bone.
Researchers also wondered if little Ata was a stillborn fetus, but Lachman estimated that the child might have lived to between six and eight years old when he or she died.
Scientists don't know of any form of dwarfism or any other disease or condition that could have caused this. Though Ata is human, the tiny skeleton is still a huge mystery.
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