An historical jawbone found in Taiwan belonged to an enigmatic group of early human ancestors known as Denisovans, scientists reported Thursday.
Comparatively little is thought about Denisovans, an extinct group of human cousins that interacted with Neanderthals and our personal species, Homo sapiens.
“ Denisovan fossils are very scarce,” with only some confirmed finds in East Asia, stated research co-author Takumi Tsutaya on the Graduate College for Superior Research in Japan.
Thus far, the one recognized Denisovan fossils embody partial jawbones, just a few enamel and a part of a finger bone present in caves in Siberia and Tibet. Some scientists imagine fossils present in a collapse Laos might also belong to Denisovans.
The possible identification of the jawbone from Taiwan as Denisovan expands the area the place scientists know these historical individuals as soon as lived, stated Tsutaya.
The partial jawbone was first recovered when a fishing operation dredged the seafloor within the Penghu Channel close to the Taiwan Strait. After it was bought to an vintage store, a collector noticed it and bought it in 2008, then later donated it to Taiwan’s Nationwide Museum of Pure Science.
Based mostly on the composition of marine invertebrates discovered hooked up to it, the fossil was dated to the Pleistocene period. However precisely which species of early human ancestor it belonged to remained a thriller.
The situation of the fossil made it inconceivable to check historical DNA. However just lately, scientists in Taiwan, Japan and Denmark had been in a position to extract some protein sequences from the unfinished jawbone.
An evaluation confirmed some protein sequences resembled these contained within the genome of a Denisovan fossil recovered in Siberia. The findings had been revealed within the journal Science.
Whereas the brand new analysis is promising, Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian Establishment’s Human Origins Venture, stated he wish to see additional knowledge earlier than confirming the Taiwan fossil as Denisovan.
Potts, who was not concerned within the new analysis, praised the research for “a fantastic job of recovering some proteins.” However he added, such a small sliver of fabric could not give a full image.
At one time, not less than three human ancestor teams — Denisovans, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens — coexisted in Eurasia and typically interbred, researchers say.
“We can identity Neanderthal elements and Denisovan elements” within the DNA of some individuals alive in the present day, stated Tsutaya.
