Different views of the Bianfu Cave radius from layer 7 (upper row) and its virtual reconstruction (bottom row).Image credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology/Chinese Academy of Sciences (cropped)
Posted on 09/24/2026 8:43:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The first confirmed arm bone of a Denisovan has been discovered in southwest China, adding another piece to the puzzle of an elusive human relative...
Only a handful of physical Denisovan remains have ever been knowingly recovered, including finger bones, ribs, teeth, jawbones, some skulls, and a couple of leg bones. But now, researchers in China report they have discovered the first Denisovan radius, one of the two long bones in the forearm...
a site called Bianfu Cave that contains more than 60,000 bone fragments found in several layers of sediment...
The vast majority of these skeletal remains belonged to non-human animals, but researchers used a novel method to identify 22 potential hominin remains, dated to around 167,000 to 134,000 years ago.
The team then looked closely at proteins within the bone (a technique called proteomic analysis) to reveal that at least seven of these hominin remains contained a distinct amino acid variant associated with Denisovans.
Among the collection were two skull fragments and four teeth, but the most incredible specimen was a chunk of radial bone, a rare limb bone to add to the sparse collection of known Denisovan remains...
Their research shows that Denisovans were prolific tool-makers, crafting bits of animal bone and stone to fashion all kinds of objects to help them master their surroundings. Many appear to be sharpened hunting weapons, designed to take down the medium- and large-sized mammals that once roamed this part of East Asia.
Perhaps most significantly, the tools have a strong similarity to the technology being developed by Neanderthals at the time.
(Excerpt) Read more at iflscience.com ...
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Different views of the Bianfu Cave radius from layer 7 (upper row) and its virtual reconstruction (bottom row).Image credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology/Chinese Academy of Sciences (cropped)
The Denisovans are like the coolest bunch to ever roam the planet. They get their DNA in half of people today, or something like that, yet cover their tracks, even when dead, far better than any of their peers.
I agree, until just a few short years ago, we knew nothing about them.
Great, just great. Now we have a One-Armed Denisovan on the loose.
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