An artist's illustration of an ancient human male, who belonged to the Denisovans.Credit: Cheng-Han Sun
More than 20 years ago, a mandible fossil discovered in the Taiwan Strait of China belonged to the ancient human population known as the Denisovans. The Denisovans were first discovered in a cave in Siberia.
This discovery was recently published [1], and the research results came from the time-consuming work of extracting ancient proteins from the fossil. This discovery also expanded the known geographical range of this population, from the cold high-altitude regions to warmer climates.
I'm really excited about this result, said Janet Kelso, a computational biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.
The mandible, named Penghu 1, has four intact teeth and was salvaged by the crew of a fishing boat from the Penghu Channel, 25 kilometers off the western coast of Taiwan. When the researchers realized the significance that Penghu 1 came from a close relative of ancient humans, Penghu 1 was donated to the National Museum of Natural Science in Taiwan [2]. But before that, the identity of this unknown relative had always been a mystery. Ancient protein researchers spent more than two years refining the relevant techniques to extract ancient proteins from the animal bones from the Penghu Channel. They then used acid to separate protein fragments from the surface of one of Penghu 1's molars and enzymes to extract these proteins from the mandible.
The team identified multiple decomposed fragments, and two of these fragments had unique amino acid sequence variations, which were consistent with those seen in the genetic sequence of a Denisovan finger bone [3] discovered in the Denisova Cave in southern Siberia in 2008. The research team also identified that this mandible came from a male Denisovan.
This is the second site where molecular evidence of ancient proteins proves the association between the fossil remains and the Denisovans. The first site is Xiahe on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where the proteins of a mandible [4] and later a rib discovered there were confirmed to belong to the Denisovans.
It is difficult to accurately date this Penghu fossil because scientists do not have samples of the sediments in which the fossil was buried.
You can only say that it is more than 50,000 years old, said Rainer Grün, a geochronologist at the Australian National University who dated the fossil in 2015 and then reanalyzed the data [5].
The Xiahe 1 mandible is at least 160,000 years old, and the remains in the Denisova Cave show that the Denisovans lived in Siberia from 200,000 to 50,000 years ago. At that time, the sea level was lower than it is now, and the Chinese mainland and Taiwan were still connected. Enrico Cappellini, a molecular biologist at the University of Copenhagen, said that it is not surprising to find the remains of the Denisovans to the east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Modern human populations across the Pacific Ocean carry Denisovan gene sequences left by the genetic exchanges between the Denisovans and Homo sapiens. In fact, a sequence variation that classifies Penghu 1 as a Denisovan exists in 20% of the modern population in the Philippines.
Kelso said that the discovery of traces of Denisovan DNA in modern human populations indicates that there were several ancient human populations. The latest data also shows that there are slight differences in the protein sequences of the Denisovan fossils from Taiwan, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and Siberia.
Future discoveries are expected to further expand the known geographical range of the Denisovans, Cappellini said. It is still unknown whether the Denisovans ever went further west in the Altai Mountains of Siberia or moved south into the Indian subcontinent. Finding the answer to this question could be very interesting, he said.
More bones will also help to restore the appearance of the Denisovans. There are already several candidates for such bones. They include a tooth from northern Laos [6] and a large skull discovered in Harbin, northern China, also known as the Dragon Man [7].
Bence Viola, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto in Canada who has studied the remains of the Denisovans in Siberia and on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, said that this paper may convince museums to agree to test more ancient human specimens. I hope that this minimally invasive technique can be used to sample more remains in the future, he said.
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Zhengxianling is developed and operated by Shanghai Yuntong Information Technology Co., Ltd. The company mainly provides international services such as talent job - hunting and recruitment, recruitment and introduction of high - level talents/scientific and technological innovation talents [including Nobel laureates, academician workstations, Overseas Excellent Young Scientists, QM/HJ programs, online and offline job fairs, campus recruitment, social recruitment, online recruitment, headhunting, etc.], academic exchanges, and software development. In due course, we will launch AI - enabled language platforms and APPs in English, Korean, Japanese, French, German, etc. to meet the needs of global users. Up to now, the company has established communication channels with national ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Science and Technology, talent offices of the Organization Departments of some provincial and municipal Party committees, departments of human resources and social security, industry and information technology, science and technology, trade unions, chambers of commerce, academic societies, associations, 985 and 211 universities in major regions across the country, some corporate HR departments, the International Academy of Sciences Consortium, the World Digital Trade Alliance (WDTA) under the United Nations Science and Technology Commission, and some international institutions and QS World University Top 100 universities (MIT, University of Oxford, University of Melbourne...) in countries such as Russia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Canada.
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In 2024, we joined the Hubei Chushang Federation in China and the World Federation of Inventors' Associations (IFIA). We have established the grand goal of building Zhengxianling into China's first pan - international talent recruitment platform (AI - enabled language platforms and APPs in English, Korean, Japanese, French, German, etc. will be launched in due course. The International HRD (HR) Alliance is being launched simultaneously), and serving billions of users in more than 200 countries around the world in the future. As of December 31, 2024, we have received a reply from the President of the WDTA of the United Nations Science and Technology Commission, welcoming Yuntong Technology and Zhengxianling to join the WDTA of the United Nations Science and Technology Commission in 2025. From 2025, we will cooperate with the International Academy of Sciences Consortium and may participate in activities such as the FCPAE European Forum to promote international talent exchanges and cooperation, thus promoting scientific and technological innovation, driving employment, and contributing to global economic construction and promoting friendly cross - border cooperation to create a better future. This will enable us to better serve users from all over the world.
The Chinese full - name of IFIA is the World Federation of Inventors' Associations. Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, and San Francisco, the United States. In February 2024, after being reviewed and approved by the 47th Global Executive Committee of IFIA, Shanghai Yuntong Information Technology Co., Ltd. [Zhengxianling] joined the organization. For details, please refer to the official IFIA website announcement:
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