The first known fossil of a Denisovan skull has been found in a Siberian cave
DNA evidence hints that the hominids interbred with humans as recently as 15,000 years ago
By Bruce Bower
CLEVELAND — A palm-sized section of a braincase is the first Denisovan skull fossil ever found.
Discovered in two pieces in Siberia’s Denisova Cave in August 2016, the find joins only a handful of fragmentary fossils from these mysterious, extinct hominids. Mitochondrial DNA, a type of genetic material typically inherited from the mother, extracted from the skull pegged it as Denisovan, paleoanthropologist Bence Viola said March 28 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.