First Denisovan forearm bone unearthed in China's Yunnan province
Researchers identified a Denisovan radius bone among five fossils from a Yunnan cave, offering rare anatomical insight into the extinct group.
Scientists headed by Professor Fu Chaomei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology analyzed artifacts from the Jiepǔ cave in Heqing County, Yunnan, and identified five Denisovan remains. Using ZooMS protein sequencing, they verified two parietal bone fragments, a femoral shaft fragment, and a radius bone, marking the first recovery of a Denisovan forearm element. The specimens originate from mid-Pleistocene layers, a time when Denisovans, Neanderthals and early modern humans overlapped across Eurasia.
Researchers observed that the radius shares some dimensions with Neanderthals but overall resembles modern humans, suggesting a mixed anatomical profile. This discovery broadens the known spatial and temporal distribution of Denisovans from Siberia to Southeast Asia and opens avenues for further genomic analysis of their contribution to present-day humans.
