Key takeaways:

• A jawbone found in Taiwan is confirmed to belong to the Denisovans, an extinct lineage of human relatives.
• This discovery expands the known range of Denisovan fossils, previously limited to regions like Siberia and Tibet.
• The fossil indicates that Denisovans coexisted and interbred with Neanderthals and modern humans.

An ancient jawbone recovered from the seafloor in Taiwan is believed to be from the Denisovans, a mysterious group of early human ancestors, according to recent findings published in The New York Times. This jawbone enhances our understanding of the Denisovans’ geographical range, which previously extended only to areas like Siberia and Tibet. Researchers from Taiwan, Japan, and Denmark collaborated on the analysis and determined the fossil's significance through protein sequences extracted from the specimen.

The jawbone, initially found during dredging operations in the Penghu Channel, was thought to date back to the Pleistocene era. Upon its recovery, the fossil underwent various studies that revealed the presence of marine invertebrates, helping to date its origins. Takumi Tsutaya, a biological anthropologist involved in the study, noted that “Denisovans must therefore have been capable of adapting to a wide range of habitat types,” indicating their potential to thrive in different environments, as mentioned in HuffPost.

Though the fossil’s condition made it unsuitable for ancient DNA analysis, scientists were successful in examining protein sequences that matched those found in other verified Denisovan fossils, which are rare in the fossil record. Frido Welker, a molecular anthropologist involved in the research, affirmed the importance of this discovery, stating, “Indeed, Denisovans were present all the way east to the coast.” This new finding opens up further possibilities for understanding the interactions among the Denisovans, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens—our direct ancestors.

Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Project, cautioned that while the findings are promising, more evidence is necessary to fully verify the classification of the Taiwan fossil as Denisovan. He pointed out that the evidence from protein sequences is limited, suggesting that ongoing research is crucial.

The significance of recovering such fossils reinforces the understanding of human evolution and highlights the ongoing mystery surrounding the Denisovans, who diverged from Neanderthals around 400,000 years ago. As research continues, each new find contributes valuable insights into how these ancient groups interacted and coexisted over millennia. For more insights, refer to the full articles from CBS News and Africanews.