Overview
- A Nature paper published Friday reports that researchers used ancient protein sequencing on a set of Xujiayao fossils and the Harbin cranium to link the material to Denisovans.
- The team identified a single amino acid substitution in preserved proteins that so far appears only in fossils attributed to Denisovans, offering a potential molecular marker where DNA no longer survives.
- Combining the Xujiayao fragments with the near-complete Harbin skull, researchers produced a provisional cranial profile marked by a long, low skull, heavy brow ridges, flat cheekbones, and a thick, wide skull cap.
- The Xujiayao collection of about 20 fossils was redated by the authors to roughly 130,000–199,000 years ago and was assigned to Denisovans on the basis of the proteomic results.
- Both the study authors and outside experts warn the findings are provisional because Denisovans lived across wide areas and mixed with other hominins, so more samples and wider testing are needed before the marker and skull traits are treated as definitive.