In 2010, a research team announced that they had found human remains that proved to belong to a cave in the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. unknown human species took the name of the cave and they were called Denisovan (Middle photo of what Denisovans might look like).
Subsequent genetic and anthropological studies have shown that the Denisovans were not an isolated group of mountain people, but migrated throughout various regions of Southeast Asia, and their DNA has been traced back to natives of the Philippines, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.
In 1993, a human skull was found in China that scientists said belonged to an extinct archaic human species. Tall man but became more widely known by his nickname “Dragon Man”.
A new study links Denisovans to Homo longi, with researchers arguing that Denisovans are a subspecies of Homo longi.
Geographic distribution and affinities
Among the modern humans whose Denisovan DNA has been detected are the inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau.
Findings (remains and DNA samples) found in a Tibetan cave at an altitude of three thousand meters were identified after analysis and proved to belong to Denisovans.
This is the first time that such Denisovan fossils have been found outside of Siberia.
The researchers, led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, say that their study of the findings does not conclusively prove a connection with Homo longi humans, but rather points to it.
Scientists from the Natural History Museum of London agree with this idea.
This study shows that Homo longi, including Denisovans, appears to have played an important role in the evolution of the human species.