Molecular analysis has determined that a jawbone recovered off Taiwan's coast came from a Denisovan, showing that this enigmatic lineage of archaic humans once inhabited a vast expanse in eastern Eurasia in environments ranging from cold and arid to warm and humid.
Scientists were unable to extract DNA from the fossil — part of the lower jaw, with five teeth attached — but identified two protein variants present in the remains that they knew were specific to Denisovans, rather than either Neanderthals or our species Homo sapiens, based on previously studied fossils.
Protein fragments in the dental enamel of the fossil related to the Y-chromosome, showing that the individual was male.
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