An international team of archaeologists, including representatives of the Archaeological and Ethnographic Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has unearthed ancient fossils of Denisovans.
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According to the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the Denisovans are a mysterious subspecies of humans that became extinct about 40,000 years ago. New research shows that the age of the skeletons discovered by scientists is about 200,000 years. They invented the Denisovans stone working tools for the first time.
The results of a 2010 study showed the remains of Denisovans and Neanderthals, close relatives of modern humans. The prevalence of Denisovans on the Asian continent and in the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania was evident from DNA analysis extracted from the fossils. The results of genetic analysis showed that two separate groups of Denizovans were associated with the ancestors of modern humans.
Katerina Douka
Bone found by scientists in the Denisov cave
Scientists have so far uncovered six scattered fossils of a Denisovan man. Five of them were found in the Denisov Cave in Siberia, and the sixth was found in the Tibetan Plateau in China. And the age of the oldest is 122 to 194 thousand years.
But researchers have now discovered three fossils in the Denisov Cave, which, according to initial estimates, are about 200 thousand years old, which is six thousand years older than the previous fossils. This is the oldest remnant of the Denisovans discovered by scientists.
Scientists searched for unique proteins in 3,791 bone fragments found in the Denisov Cave, which were discovered during the DNA analysis of earlier Denisov models because they are unique to this human lineage.
In these bones, scientists found five human bones that could be examined, four of which contained DNA. To determine the “personality” of its owners, one of them was identified as Neanderthal.
Archaeologist Katrina Duga from the University of Vienna in Austria said: “We are delighted to find three Denisovan bones in ancient rock formations – one of which has never been found before.”
The age of these bones was determined based on the age of the sedimentary rock layer in which the scientists discovered the bones of Denisovans. This layer contains stone fragments and animal bones, and with these additional finds, archaeologists can learn more about the life of Denisovans.
Data and sources collected by scientists indicate that the Denisovans found in the cave lived in an area that was warmer and more similar to the current climate and suitable for living with forests and grasslands. The Denisovans hunted deer, horses, buffaloes and woolly rhinos for their food.
The Denisov Cave and the Scientific Team are continuing their work at various sites in Asia in the hope of making new discoveries.
Source: Vesti. Row
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