In a discovery that may rewrite the map of human prehistory, fossilised genetic evidence has revealed that the Denisovans – an elusive counterpart of the Neanderthals – ventured far beyond their Siberian origins, reaching the subtropical shores of the Taiwan Strait.
Published in Science on Friday, the identification of a male Denisovan jawbone aged 130,000–190,000 years from the seabed in the Penghu Channel marks the first direct proof of their presence in the region, shattering assumptions about their geographic limits.
The fossil, dubbed Penghu 1, not only underscores these archaic humans’ astonishing adaptability to diverse climates – from frigid Siberian caves to balmy Southeast Asian coastlines – but also strengthens the genetic link between Denisovans and modern Asian populations, who today carry a DNA legacy from these forebears.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
As the farthest-reaching Denisovan fossil ever found, Penghu 1 challenges classical migration narratives and shows how these ancient cousins shaped humanity’s evolutionary story.
Last year, National Science Review reporters posed a sharp and vital question to Svante Paabo, recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for groundbreaking discoveries in the field of ancient human genomes and human evolution: “What could be the next breakthrough in ancient human genomics?”
The professor’s answer was very concise: the Denisovans – an enigmatic relative of modern humans.
Unlike the widely studied Neanderthals, the first Denisova hominin skeletal fossils were discovered by Russian scientists in the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in 2008, leading to their naming in 2010.
In 2019, the first Denisovan hominin jawbone with teeth was found in the Baishi Cliff caves on the Tibetan Plateau.
“One possible place to discover Denisova hominin fossils is China. It is even possible that fossils of the Denisova hominin are preserved in museums in present-day China,” Paabo told the National Science Review last year.
A year later, Danish and Taiwanese researchers confirmed Paabo’s vision by extracting genetic material from ancient hominin jawbone fossils in museum collections, proving they derived from a male Denisova hominin.
It is the seventh confirmed case of Denisova hominin fossils globally, the second Denisova hominin jawbone discovered with teeth and – from 4,000km (2,485 miles) – currently the farthest Denisova hominin from the Denisova Cave place of discovery.
Up to 5 per cent of the DNA of modern Southeast Asian populations can be traced back to Denisova hominin genes. In contrast, it is only 2 per cent of DNA of peoples in the Tibetan Plateau region and none at all in Europe. Therefore, scientists speculate that the Denisova hominin once existed widely in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.
Chun-Hsiang Chang, the corresponding author of the paper, said on Friday that the Penghu 1 hominin fossil “was donated in 2010 by a private collector, who obtained it from fishermen operating in the southwestern coastal area of Taiwan. The fishermen retrieved it from the seabed while conducting bottom trawling in the Taiwan Strait’s Penghu Channel”.
Chang is curator of palaeontology at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, where this fossil is also an important exhibit.
“Based on the preserved fragment of the mandible and several teeth, it can be asserted that the morphology of the Penghu natives exhibits characteristics of Homo erectus, rather than being Homo sapiens like us; however, compared to typical Homo erectus specimens, such as Peking Man and Java Man, their mandible is wider, which is unique,” Chang said.
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen have confirmed that the sample is from a Denisova hominin.
They extracted 51 types of proteins from Penghu 1, identifying 4,241 amino acid residues. Five variants derived from five different proteins are specific to Denisovans or have phylogenetic, or evolutionary, relevance.
The unique features of the Denisova hominin and the overall evolutionary relationship results confirm that Penghu 1 is a mandible of a Denisova hominin that was closely related to the Neanderthal. A male-specific enamel protein was detected in Penghu 1, proving it is male.
Based on the content of trace elements, biostratigraphic evidence and past sea level changes, the age of Penghu 1 has been determined to be less than 450,000 years – and probably up to 190,000 years .
Fossils of water buffalo and elephants were excavated in the same area as Penghu 1, proving the Taiwan Strait was then a warm and humid climate, similar to today’s Southeast Asia.
The discovery illustrates the Denisova hominin’s adaptability to various climates, ranging from the climate around Denisova Cave – with long, cold winters – to the alpine subarctic climate associated with high altitudes and the warm, humid climate of lower latitudes where Penghu 1 was found.
Finally, as two jawbones with teeth (Xiahe 1 and Penghu 1) and two molars have now been unearthed, researchers have inferred the possible appearance of the Denisova hominin.
He or she might not have been tall, but had large teeth and a robust jawbone.
In stark contrast to the Neanderthals, who had tall but slender jawbones with small teeth, this indicates that after their divergence 400,000 years ago, the Denisova hominin evolved independently.
This discovery challenges the “Out of Africa” theory, with the genes of the extinct Denisova hominin living on in modern human populations.
More from South China Morning Post:
- China was home to Neanderthals, not just Europe or Middle East, Stone Age find suggests
- Ancient DNA helps reconstruct penguin history from the Stone Age to the present day
- Why this Jurassic bird fossil from China might rewrite evolutionary history
- Scientists find genetic link between Attila’s Huns and Xiongnu empire that fought Han China
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2025.
