2025/04/10 by Takumi Tsutaya, Rikai Sawafuji, Alberto J. Taurozzi +12 · 5 voices · 12 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
paper · doi:10.1126/science.ads3888
Denisovans are an extinct hominin group defined by ancient genomes of Middle to Late Pleistocene fossils from southern Siberia. Although genomic evidence suggests their widespread distribution throughout eastern Asia and possibly Oceania, so far only a few fossils from the Altai and Tibet are confidently identified molecularly as Denisovan. We identified a hominin mandible (Penghu 1) from Taiwan (10,000 to 70,000 years ago or 130,000 to 190,000 years ago) as belonging to a male Denisovan by applying ancient protein analysis. We retrieved 4241 amino acid residues and identified two Denisovan-specific variants. The increased fossil sample of Denisovans demonstrates their wider distribution, including warm and humid regions, as well as their shared distinct robust dentognathic traits that markedly contrast with their sister group, Neanderthals.