Mysterious seafloor bones off Taiwan suggest Denisovans stood over 6-foot tall

Key Points:

• Fossil leg bones discovered between Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, dated around 45,000 years old, are believed to belong to Denisovans, an elusive extinct human relative, potentially filling gaps in their sparse fossil record.
• The Penghu 2 and Penghu 3 specimens suggest Denisovans were unusually large for their time, with estimated heights up to 6 feet 3 inches and weights approaching 200 pounds, surpassing many contemporary Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Homo erectus.
• Protein analysis, rather than DNA, has been crucial in identifying these fossils as Denisovan, especially since DNA often degrades in ancient remains; this method previously confirmed the Denisovan identity of a jawbone from the same site.
• The discovery contributes to understanding Denisovan anatomy, geographic range, and their genetic legacy in modern humans, although uncertainties remain due to the fossils being dredged from the seafloor, complicating precise contextual analysis.
• The findings, published as a preprint and pending peer review, highlight the potential for proteomics to reveal more about Denisovan biology and migration, particularly in coastal regions of Asia where their presence is less well documented.