The oldest 200,000-year-old human fossils were discovered – They belong to Denisovan

The oldest fossils of the mysterious human lineage known as the Denisovans have been discovered by scientists. With these 200,000-year-old bones, researchers also discovered for the first time stone tools associated with these extinct relatives of modern man, according to a new study.

The Denisovans were first recognized about a decade ago. It is an extinct member of the human family tree – they are the closest known relatives of modern humans, along with the Neanderthals.

Analysis of DNA extracted from Denisovans fossils suggests they may once have been widespread throughout mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, and revealed that at least two distinct groups of Denisovans crossed with modern-day ancestors.

So far, scientists have discovered only 6 Denisovan fossils. Five were discovered in the Denisova cave in Siberia and one was found in a sanctuary in China, Live Science previously reported.

Now, researchers have discovered three more Denisovan fossils in the Denisova Cave. Scientists have estimated that they are about 200,000 years old, making them the oldest known Denisovans ever found. Previously, the oldest known Denisovan specimens were approximately 122,000 to 194,000 years old.

In the new study, researchers examined 3,791 bone remains from the Denisova cave. They looked for proteins they knew were Denisovan based on previous DNA research on the extinct lineage.

Among these fossils, scientists have identified five human bones. Four of them contained enough DNA to reveal their identities – one was Neanderthal and the other three were Denisovan. Based on genetic similarities, two of these fossils may either come from a single person or from relatives.

“We were extremely excited to find three new Denisovan bones among the older layers of Denisova Cave,” study researcher Katerina Douka, an archaeologist at the University of Vienna in Austria, told Live Science. “We specifically targeted these layers where no other human fossils had been found before and our strategy worked.”

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