Rare fossils reveal what ancient Denisovans may have looked like
Researchers have identified fossil fragments from the Xujiayao site in China as belonging to the Denisovans using protein analysis. This discovery provides new insights into the physical appearance and evolutionary history of this mysterious extinct human group.
Why it matters
It fills significant gaps in the human evolutionary record and helps clarify the relationship between Denisovans, Neanderthals, and modern humans.
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Robert Egan
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
Add to Preferred Sources Artist depiction of the heavy set facial features of a Denisovan. Credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology/CAS Whenever anything is written about the Denisovans, the word "mysterious" is almost guaranteed to appear. That is because we just don't know a lot about this extinct human group that may have lived in East Asia from at least 300,000 to 45,000 years ago and was closely related to the Neanderthals. The main reason for that is a sparse fossil record.
Now, thanks to a new study published in the journal Nature , some significant knowledge gaps are being filled in—namely, what they looked like and where they lived.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in