DNA from Siberian bones reveals previously unknown extinct relative of modern yaks

A handful of unremarkable bone fragments from caves in southern Siberia have turned out to hold an extraordinary evolutionary story. According to an online report by Phys Org, ancient DNA recovered from the remains has revealed a previously unknown bovine species that lived across the region for hundreds of thousands of years and shared a distant ancestry with modern yaks. The discovery, published in Current Biology, adds another chapter to the complex history of Ice Age biodiversity in the Altai region.A species hidden in small bonesThe discovery emerged from fragments recovered from Denisova Cave and other archaeological sites across southern Siberia. Many of the bones were too incomplete or poorly preserved to identify by appearance alone.