A Jawbone From An Extinct Relative Of Ours Was Found Off The Coast Of Taiwan
Emily Chan |Apr 23, 2025 Follow UsOff the coast of Taiwan, a human jaw was discovered, and it does not belong to our species or Neanderthals. Instead, it came from another extinct relative of ours, the Denisovans. Since its discovery in the early 2000s on the seafloor off the west coast of Taiwan, the jawbone has been something of a mystery. In a new study, a team of researchers analyzed its proteins to figure out which species it belongs to. Their findings showed that the individual was Denisovan, a sort of cousin of Neanderthals and humans. During the Pleistocene epoch, Denisovans roamed throughout Asia. The study of the jawbone has paved the way for the identification of other unknown fossils. “The same technique can and is being used to study other hominin fossils to determine whether they too are Denisovans, Neanderthals, or other hominin populations,” said Frido Welker, a co-author of the study and a molecular anthropologist at the University of Copenhagen. The jawbone was caught...