Since 2008, when their fragmentary fossils first turned up in a Siberian cave, the branch of the human family tree. The archaic humans, like Neanderthals, lived at the same time as early Homo sapiens but have been extinct for tens of thousands of years.
For nearly a decade, we’ve known Denisovans from only one site, which yielded just a shard of finger bone and a few teeth from four individuals — and ancient DNA extracted from the scant remains.
In 2019, however, a series of discoveries revealed our evolutionary kin in greater detail than ever, answering some questions but also presenting new mysteries. One thing is clear: The Denisovans were much more complex than we thought, occupying diverse and sometimes extreme environments spread over much of Asia.
(Credit: Jay Smith)
Jay Smith
In March, researchers announced that they had found two small skull fragments — the first known pieces of ...
