Protein and Skull Evidence Reveals Denisovans’ Distinctive Appearance

WHO:

Archaeology News Online Magazine - A team led by Qiaomei Fu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed Xujiayao fossils.

Live Science - Qiaomei Fu, director of the Ancient DNA Laboratory at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said other lineages may have lived in East Asia while Denisovans were present.

Live Science - Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the study, said Denisovans were genetically varied and that their morphological variation may become clearer as more fossils are found.

Live Science - Study authors included Xing, Wu, Shao, Ge, Bennett, Rao, Lin, Zhao, Liu, Zhou, Feng, Jiangzuo and Fu.

WHAT:

Archaeology News Online Magazine - Protein analysis identified the Xujiayao bones as Denisovan; DNA had not survived in the samples.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - Researchers found 18 original proteins after filtering contamination: 13 from a skull sample and 15 from a jaw sample.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - At position 996 of collagen protein COL1A2, the Xujiayao samples had lysine, the amino acid reported in tested Denisovans; Neanderthals and modern humans have arginine at that position. Researchers counted 57 Denisovan-version peptides in the skull sample and 61 in the jaw, with one arginine peptide in each.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - A family tree based on 2,074 amino-acid positions placed both samples within the Denisovan group with more than 99% statistical support; the data could not identify a more specific Denisovan population.

Live Science - The study analyzed remains from Xujiayao and concluded they were Denisovan, enabling researchers to examine their skull features.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - Xujiayao skulls are low and wide, with cranial bone measuring 7.7 millimeters at one point and 12.0 millimeters at another. The temporal bone arches strongly; the jaw has a triangular-area depression called the planum triangulare.

Live Science - Xujiayao fossils combine traits associated with Homo erectus, Neanderthals and modern humans, alongside distinctive Denisovan features. The back of the skull is more vertical and less rounded than in Neanderthals or modern humans.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - The Harbin skull, also identified as Denisovan, has a heavy brow ridge, flat midface and little jaw projection.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - Xujiayao 6 had an estimated brain volume of about 1,700 milliliters, compared with 1,120–1,420 milliliters in other fossils and 1,090–1,880 milliliters in modern humans. The authors considered the Xujiayao measurement within one population’s variation.

Live Science - A reconstruction depicts a Denisovan man with a low, wide braincase, a massive brow ridge and dark hair. A previous DNA study suggested Denisovans likely had dark skin, brown hair and brown eyes.

Live Science - The researchers argued that similarities among East Asian fossils may mean Denisovans should not be split into species such as Homo juluensis and Homo longi.

WHERE:

Archaeology News Online Magazine - Xujiayao is in the Nihewan Basin of northern China.

Live Science - Denisovans lived in Asia; the group was first identified from DNA recovered from a finger bone found in a Siberian cave.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - The researchers compared Xujiayao fossils with fossils from Jinniushan, Dali, Hualongdong, Xuchang, Xiahe and Penghu. The authors proposed a Denisovan range extending from Siberia to Taiwan.

WHEN:

Live Science - The study was published Oct. 21 in the journal *Nature*.

Live Science - Denisovans disappeared around 30,000 years ago.

Archaeology News Online Magazine - The authors estimated Denisovan presence across the proposed range from about 300,000 to 45,000 years ago.

WHY:

Live Science - The researchers said a combination of distinctive anatomical traits supports assigning most East Asian late Middle Pleistocene archaic *Homo* fossils to Denisovans.

HOW:

Archaeology News Online Magazine - Researchers drilled tiny holes in a right parietal bone and a right mandible ramus, extracted proteins while shielding surrounding fossil, and filtered contaminants. The protein analysis used collagen deamidation as evidence of age; modern contaminants such as keratin showed little deamidation.

Live Science - The researchers used paleoproteomics, the study of proteins that persist longer than DNA, to identify the remains through genetic variants distinguishing Denisovans from other ancient human groups.

(UPDATED October 29, 2026 02:04 UTC)

Protein analysis has identified fossils from Xujiayao in northern China as Denisovan, allowing researchers to examine skull features despite DNA not surviving in the remains. The fossils combine traits associated with several ancient human groups with distinctive features, including a low, wide skull, and the findings support identifying many ancient human fossils from East Asia as Denisovan. The researchers say Denisovans may have ranged from Siberia to Taiwan, and their varied anatomy could become clearer as more fossils are found.