No abstract

Denisovans are members of a hominin group only known from fragmentary fossils genomically studied from a single site, Denisova Cave 1-3 in Siberia, and from their genetic legacy through gene flow into several low-altitude East Asian populations 4,5 and high-altitude modern Tibetans 6 . The lack of morphologically informative Denisovan fossils impedes our ability to connect geographically and temporally dispersed Asian fossil hominins and understand their relation to these recent populations in a coherent manner, including the Denisovan-inherited human adaptation to the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau 7,8 . Here we report a Denisovan mandible, identified by ancient protein analysis 9,10 , found in Baishiya Karst Cave, Xiahe County, Gansu Province (China), on the Tibetan Plateau. We determine the mandible to be at least 160 thousand years old through U-series dating of an adhering carbonate matrix. It is the first direct evidence of this hominin group outside the Altai Mountains, and provides unique insights into Denisovan mandibular and dental morphology. Our results indicate that archaic hominins occupied the Tibetan Plateau in the Middle Pleistocene and successfully adapted to high-altitude hypoxia environments much earlier than the regional arrival of modern Homo sapiens.

No abstract

Denisovans are members of a hominin group only known from fragmentary fossils genomically studied from a single site, Denisova Cave 1-3 in Siberia, and from their genetic legacy through gene flow into several low-altitude East Asian populations 4,5 and high-altitude modern Tibetans 6 . The lack of morphologically informative Denisovan fossils impedes our ability to connect geographically and temporally dispersed Asian fossil hominins and understand their relation to these recent populations in a coherent manner, including the Denisovan-inherited human adaptation to the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau 7,8 . Here we report a Denisovan mandible, identified by ancient protein analysis 9,10 , found in Baishiya Karst Cave, Xiahe County, Gansu Province (China), on the Tibetan Plateau. We determine the mandible to be at least 160 thousand years old through U-series dating of an adhering carbonate matrix. It is the first direct evidence of this hominin group outside the Altai Mountains, and provides unique insights into Denisovan mandibular and dental morphology. Our results indicate that archaic hominins occupied the Tibetan Plateau in the Middle Pleistocene and successfully adapted to high-altitude hypoxia environments much earlier than the regional arrival of modern Homo sapiens.

North Africa is a key area for understanding hominin population movements and the expansion of our species. It is home to the earliest currently known Homo sapiens (Jebel Irhoud) and several late Middle Stone Age (MSA) fossils, notably Kébibat, Contrebandiers 1, Dar-es-Soltane II H5 and El Harhoura. Mostly referred to as “Aterian” they fill a gap in the North African fossil record between Jebel Irhoud and Iberomaurusians. We explore morphological continuity in this region by quantifying mandibular shape using 3D (semi)landmark geometric morphometric methods in a comparative framework of late Early and Middle Pleistocene hominins (n = 15), Neanderthals (n = 27) and H. sapiens (n = 145). We discovered a set of mixed features among late MSA fossils that is in line with an accretion of modern traits through time and an ongoing masticatory gracilization process. In Northern Africa, Aterians display similarities to Iberomaurusians and recent humans in the area as well as to the Tighenif and Thomas Quarry hominins, suggesting a greater time depth for regional continuity than previously assumed. The evidence we lay out for a long-term succession of hominins and humans emphasizes North Africa’s role as source area of the earliest H. sapiens.