Archaeological landmark: they identify a human ancestor 160,000 years ago

Scientists report that a mandible found in Tibet belonged to a Denisovan 160,000 years ago, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

This is the first time that this species has been found outside the caves of Denisova, Siberia.

The fossil was discovered in 1980 by a local monk from Xiahe County of China, but it is only now that scientists have been able to badyze an ancient protein extracted from the fossil and identify the species.

"The jaw of Xiahe probably represents the oldest fossil of hominids in the Tibetan plateau," says author of the study, Fahu Chen. According to the expert, this ancestor had already adapted to live in this high altitude environment and little oxygen, long before the Homo sapiens reached the region.

Researchers at the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology Max Planck believe that this jaw should belong to a population closely related to the inhabitants of Denísova Caves.

The denisovanos, also called "men of Denísova", are a species still enigmatic enough for science. We know that they lived in Siberia and that, probably, they originated from a division of the branch of the genetic tree of the human species that gave birth to the Neanderthals. Until now, the only known fossil fragments of this species had been found in the Denisova Caves in Altai (Russia).

RT.