A new paper published in Nature today (Rao, H., Xing, S., Ruan, Q. et al. Ancient proteins identify various Denisovan remains from Southwest China. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10976-9) reports discovering Denisovan fossils 167–134 thousand years old, in Bianfu Cave in Yunnan, China. The researchers sorted through, analyzing DNA, over 60,000 bone fragments.
Their analysis placed the specimens on a phylogenetic tree on the branch next to Denisova 3, a distinct branch from Neanderthals and modern humans. The skull bones were found to be similar to European Homo heidelbergensis, assumed to be the common ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and us, modern humans. The forearm is interesting because it is closer to the radial bones of modern humans and erectus than to African specimens like Australopiths (Sediba, Afarensis), or even Neanderthals.
A second paper was also published describing their tools! (posted separately).
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