News Paleontology

Newfound fossils are spilling Denisovan secrets

Teeth and bone bits from a cave in China represent the richest fossil trove outside Siberia

Two fossil teeth and a bit of skull are seen on a black background. They belonged to ancient human relatives called Denisovans.

Researchers have uncovered a smattering of Denisovan remains at an old quarry in China, including teeth and pieces of a skull (pictured here).

H. Rao et al/Nature, 2026

By Freda Kreier

A long-lost cave in southwestern China has offered archaeologists their first real glimpse of Denisovan culture.

Denisovans were a sister species of modern humans and lived across Asia an estimated 400,000 to 30,000 years ago.