Scientists identify Denisovan remains in China
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Researchers in China discovered five human remains dating back to the Middle to Late Pleistocene era in southwest China, including the first confirmed Denisovan ulna, one of the two long bones in the forearm.
A team led by Professor Fu Qiaomei of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborated on the study, published in the journal Nature.
The scientists used a technique called ZooMS to identify additional human bones from the Bianfu Cave archaeological site in Yunnan Province. The team employed ZooMS because the cave contained over 60,000 bone fragments, making analysis of all samples expensive and inefficient. ZooMS analyzes ancient proteins to determine species, offering a less invasive, faster, and cheaper method than traditional analysis.
Denisovans are a group of archaic humans identified genetically and believed to have been widely distributed across Asia, but few fossil remains exist, particularly bones from below the skull. This scarcity creates gaps in understanding their geographic range in southwest China and how they adapted to different environments. To overcome this challenge, the researchers combined initial morphological examination with ZooMS technology.
They initially selected 22 potential human remains from the bone fragments, then confirmed that two parietal bone fragments and one ulna belonged to archaic humans. Analysis of these remains revealed a specific marker, COL1A2 R996K, confirming their identity as Denisovan. Further analysis of tooth enamel also identified additional markers unique to the Denisovan population at Bianfu Cave.
