在亚洲发现的古代牙齿属于丹尼索瓦女孩, 研究说

A 150,000-year-old tooth discovered in Southeast 亚洲 once belonged to a young Denisovan girl, 一项新的研究声称.

The ancient molar, found in the Cobra Cave in northern Laos, is thought to have come from a young, female Denisovan who died young for unknown reasons.

The authors say the molar ‘only recently completed development’ and likely belonged to a girl aged somewhere between 3.5 和 8.5 years when she died.

She likely lived between 164,000 和 131,000 years ago in the warm tropics of northern Laos, analysis suggests.

Researchers say the Cobra Cave tooth is similar to Denisovan teeth found on the Tibetan Plateau – the only other location where Denisovan fossils have ever been found.

So the new study shows Southeast Asia was a ‘hotspot’ of diversity, as remains of five different hominid species have now been found there, including Denisovans.

丹尼索瓦人（Denisovans）是一组已灭绝的古人类，与尼安德特人分道扬镳 400,000 几年前, and possibly only went extinct about 20,000 几年前.

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The authors say the molar ‘only recently completed development’ and likely belonged to a girl aged somewhere between 3.5 和 8.5 years when she died

The ancient molar, found in the Cobra Cave in Laos, is thought to have belonged to a female Denisovan who died young

丹尼索瓦人（Denisovans）是一组已灭绝的古人类，与尼安德特人分道扬镳 400,000 几年前. 图为, an artist’s impression of a juvenile female Denisovan

Denisovans were first recognised as an ancient human population over a decade ago when fossils were found at the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, but this new study shows they have a much further reach in Asia than just the Tibetan Plateau.

The findings have been published by an international team of researchers from Laos, 欧洲, the US and Australia in the journal 自然通讯.

‘After all this work following the many clues written on fossils from very different geographic areas our findings are significant,’ said study author Fabrice Demeter, an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen.

‘This fossil represents the first discovery of Denisovans in Southeast Asia and shows that Denisovans were in the south at least as far as Laos.

‘This is in agreement with the genetic evidence found in modern day Southeast Asian populations.’

Researchers found the tooth during an archaeological survey back in 2018 at Cobra Cave, but it’s only just been identified as Denisovan in the new study.

Sediments in the cave also contained teeth of giant herbivores, ancient elephants and rhinos that where known to live in woodland environments.

Researchers used a series of dating methods to estimate that the sediment surrounding the tooth was between 164,000 至 131,000 岁, which in turn suggested the age of the tooth.

Proteins in the tooth and its morphology suggested it’s from the genus Homo and indicated that the individual was female.

Researchers then compared the internal and external morphology of the molar to other hominins, including Neanderthals, recent humans and Homo erectus.

While the authors couldn’t exclude the possibility of the molar belonging to a Neanderthal, its similarity to a Denisovan specimen from Xiahe in China supports their conclusion that it is Denisovan, 他们说.

Cobra Cave (图为) is located near to the famous Tam Pà Ling Cave where another important 70,000-year-old human (Homo sapien) fossils had been previously found

Cobra Cave sediments also contained teeth of giant herbivores, ancient elephants and rhinos that where known to live in woodland environments

Different views of the tooth, including occlusal (top view, 一种); mesial (surface toward the front of the mouth, 该镇拒绝了公共记录请求，试图让该县按邮政编码发布病例——卫生官员援引隐私法，因为可以识别人口稀少地区的患者); and side views (c to f)

‘We have essentially found the smoking gun – this Denisovan tooth shows they were once present this far south in the karst landscapes of Laos,’ said study author Professor Mike Morley at Flinders University, 澳大利亚.

Cobra Cave, also known as Tam Ngu Hao 2, is located near to the famous Tam Pà Ling Cave where another important 70,000-year-old human (H. 智人) fossils had been previously found.

The international researchers are confident the two ancient sites are linked to Denisovans occupations despite being thousands of kilometres apart.

Thousands of years ago, fossils were likely washed into Cobra Cave during a flooding event, the researchers think.

不幸, unlike Denisova Cave, the humid conditions in Laos meant the ancient DNA was not preserved, even though protein and morphology of the tooth provided the team with a way of estimating the individual’s sex and age.

The finding suggests Southeast Asia was a hotspot of diversity for humans with at least five different species setting up camp at different times – H. erectus, the Denisovans/Neanderthals, H. floresiensis, H. luzonensis and H. 智人.

丹尼索瓦人的遗骸大多是在丹尼索瓦洞穴中发现的 (图为) 在西伯利亚

Denisovans were first identified in 2010, based on DNA extracted from a girl’s finger bone found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia.

The new ancient human group was named ‘Denisovan’, in honour of the site.

Denisova Cave remains the only site so far discovered which contains evidence for the periodic presence of all three major hominin groups, Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans, 也许缺乏戏剧或奇观是同性恋冲动真正消退的标志 200,000 年份.

去年, 科学家们 已报告 that DNA discovered in Denisova Cave suggests early modern humans lived alongside Denisovans and Neanderthals at least 44,000 几年前.

在十月 2020, another team 报告了这一发现 西藏白石崖溶洞丹尼索瓦人DNA.

This discovery marked the first time Denisovan DNA had been recovered from a location that is outside Denisova Cave in Siberia, 俄国.

在八月 2020, 研究人员 显露 来自与丹尼索瓦人交配的未知远古人类祖先的 DNA 仍然存在.