A tooth believed to belong to a mysterious “ sister specie ” of humans — the Denisovans — has been pick up in an unexpected part of the world : Laos in Southeast Asia . This is the first fossil evidence of these former hominins in Southeast Asia , nearly 4,600 kilometers ( 2,850 miles ) from the Denisova cave in Siberia where the first fogey of this species were incur .
In a paper publish today in the journalNature Communications , an external team of investigator details the discovery of a fossilized molar found in a fresh discovered limestone cave , named Tam Ngu Hao 2 , in the Annamite Mountains of Laos .
“ We have essentially found the ’ smoking gun for hire ’ – this Denisovan tooth render they were once present this far to the south in the karst landscapes of Laos , ” Associate Professor Mike Morley of Flinders Universitysaid .
The team was originally looking for evidence ofHomo Erectusand early modernHomo Sapiens , rest of which have been get hold in the area , but the shape and geological dating of this tooth indicated they were , in fact , care with a Denisovan . Further analysis suggest the tooth belonged to a new female who most belike died between the ages of 3.5 and 8.5 age old .
base on several dating technique carry out on the surrounding deposit , it ’s estimated the tooth is around 164,000 to 131,000 year sure-enough , a clock time when Denisovans were suspect to have roamed around Asia . The genetic make - up of the modern - day human populationstrongly suggeststhat Denisovans lived in Southeast Asia around this time , although physical stiff of the species here havepreviously skirt scientist . After a long search , it now looks like they might have that grounds .
Just five Denisovan rest have ever been fully support : four in the namesakeDenisova cave of Siberiaandone on the Tibetan Plateau . Due to this scant physical evidence , we still know improbably small about Denisovans despite being so closely related to them ( not to mentionour historic interbreedingwith them ) .
“ We do n’t know what they looked like yet , [ we ] just get it on about their genes,”Dr Fabrice Demeter , lead study author and adjunct professor of human palaeontology at the University of Copenhagen , told IFLScience .
“ Denisovans and advanced man had a common ascendant by 700,000 to 500,000 years ago , then the non - modernistic human branch split again by 470,000 to 380,000 and give the Denisovans and the Neanderthals , ” he explained .
“ By 200,000 years ago , there were five different species sharing the same territory : H. erectus , H. floresiensis , H. luzonensis , H. sapiens , and the Denisovans , plus a 6th one with the Neanderthals that were circumscribe to Western Europe . ”
This latest discovery , if confirmed , slough some much - necessitate igniter on this pose coinage of hominin . Most crucially , it shows that Denisovans had a much - wider mountain range across Eurasia during the Late Pleistocene than current grounds shows and they were able to accommodate to a all-embracing cooking stove of environments .
“ Even if late results of genetic studies suggested that Denisovans and modern humans meet in southern Asia during the Late Pleistocene , we did not carry to actually recover a Denisovan tooth in Laos , ” Dr Demeter told IFLScience .
“ Our study demonstrate that Denisovans exist in a blanket range of environment and latitudes , and were able-bodied to conform to utmost conditions , from the dusty slew of the Altai and Tibet to the tropic forests of Southeast Asia . familial studies and fossils indicated that Denisovans were adapted to high EL and inhuman climates , but now with our discovery , we also eff that they were living in warmer and more humid climates and at low-spirited altitude . "
The fossil tooth might still have more to pop the question too . Dr Demeter told IFLScience that they have express out isotope analysis on the enamel of the tooth with the hopes of unveil the diet of the Denisovans who once lived in what is now Laos . The squad is presently awaiting the issue with eager eye .
