Scientists Think the Mysterious Fossil is that of Denisovan, an Early Predecessor of Humans

It is currently believed that a preserved human jawbone found in Taiwan belonged to an ancient human relative known as a Denisovan. According to researchers, this mandible, one of the rarest specimens found so far, is thought to have come from an enigmatic human ancestor that lived some 370,000 years ago.

By identifying an ancient fossil jawbone discovered in Taiwan as Denisovan, scientists now think they have solved the enigma surrounding it. Three groups of human ancestors—Denisovans, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens, our direct ancestors coexisted and occasionally interbred in Eurasia at one point, according to research.

Denisovans are strongly related to Neanderthals, having diverged over 400,000 years ago,” says Takumi Tsutaya, a biological anthropologist and co-author of the study from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Hayama, Japan. After this division, African hominins gave rise to modern humans, who then moved to Eurasia.

Scientists are highly interested in this specific jawbone, even though we know very little about Denisovans, known from relatively few fossil remains. Neanderthals, on the other hand, are better understood because to exhibits of early human existence at places like the Museum of the Krapina Neanderthals in Croatia and the Natural History Museum in London.

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