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Oldest-known fossils of mysterious human lineage uncovered in Siberian cave - Livescience.com
Nov 29, 2021 1 min, 20 secs

The newly discovered Denisovan bones are 200,000 years old.

Scientists have unearthed the oldest fossils to date of the mysterious human lineage known as the Denisovans.

First identified a little more than a decade ago, the Denisovans — an extinct branch of the human family tree — are the closest known relatives of modern humans, along with Neanderthals.

Analysis of DNA extracted from Denisovan fossils suggests they might have once been widespread across continental Asia, island Southeast Asia and Oceania, and revealed that at least two distinct groups of Denisovans interbred with ancestors of modern humans.

Now, researchers have discovered another three Denisovan fossils in Denisova Cave.

In the new study, researchers examined 3,791 bone scraps from Denisova Cave.

"We were extremely excited to identify three new Denisovan bones amongst the oldest layers of Denisova Cave," study senior author Katerina Douka, an archaeological scientist at the University of Vienna in Austria, told Live Science.

The new findings suggest these newfound Denisovans lived during a time when, according to previous research, the climate was warm and comparable to today, in a locale favorable to human life that included broad-leaved forests and open steppe.

Butchered and burnt animal remains found in the cave suggest the Denisovans may have fed on deer, gazelles, horses, bison and woolly rhinoceroses.

—240,000-year-old 'Child of Darkness' human ancestor discovered in narrow cave passageway.

The new study found that Denisovans may not have been the only occupants of the cave at this time

Bones of carnivores such as wolves and wild dogs suggest Denisovans may have actively competed with these predators over prey and perhaps the cave itself

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