Denisovan fossils in China reveal an ancient ‘hunting paradise’
New research published in Nature reveals that Denisovan hominins utilized Yunnan, China, as a 'hunting paradise' during a glacial period. The findings from Bianfu Cave provide significant new data on the evolutionary history and subsistence strategies of this extinct human group.
Why it matters
These findings fill a major geographic gap in our understanding of human evolution and the distribution of archaic hominins.
Denisovan remains discovered in southwestern China reveal that Yunnan province’s warm, biodiverse plateau was a “hunting paradise” for the hominins during a global glacial period, according to new research published in the journal Nature.
Within the region’s coniferous forests and forest-steppe environments, this archaic human group established a stable subsistence pattern highly adapted to local resources through specialised hunting and the intensive exploitation of animals.
The extinct Denisovans once roamed Eurasia, having diverged from modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals several hundred thousand years ago.
Since Denisovans were first identified in 2010, research has yielded only a handful of molecularly identified remains, leaving scientists with a limited understanding of the species.
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