An ancient jawbone dredged from the Taiwanese seabed has revealed new insights into the appearance and sweeping geographic range of an enigmatic human species called the Denisovans.
The fossil was discovered by fishers trawling the Penghu Channel off Taiwan and is thought to be the most complete fossil that has been genetically identified as Denisovan. The male individual, who lived at least 10,000 years ago, had a strong jaw and very large, powerful molars.
