www.reuters.com Open in urlscan Pro
2600:9000:235a:1800:15:5a3e:9d40:93a1  Public Scan

Submitted URL: https://newslink.reuters.com/click/35953682.240180/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmV1dGVycy5jb20vc2NpZW5jZS9zdHVkeS1icmluZ3MtbGlmZXN0eWxlLW...
Effective URL: https://www.reuters.com/science/study-brings-lifestyle-enigmatic-extinct-humans-into-focus-2024-07-03/?utm_source=Sailth...
Submission: On July 17 via api from BE — Scanned from DE

Form analysis 0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to main content

Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionalsLearn more
aboutRefinitiv

Reuters home
 * World
   Browse World
    * Africa
    * Americas
    * Asia Pacific
    * China
    * Europe
    * India
    * Israel and Hamas at War
   
    * Japan
    * Middle East
    * Ukraine and Russia at War
    * United Kingdom
    * United States
    * US Election
    * Reuters Next
   
   Latest in World
    * Hezbollah to hit new areas in Israel if civilians targeted, Nasrallah says
      9 min ago
      article with gallery
    * Greece shuts Acropolis for part of day as heatwave continues
      10 min ago
      article with gallery
    * Germany to halve military aid for Ukraine despite possible Trump White
      House
      14 min ago
      article with gallery
    * G7 trade ministers toughen talk on tackling unfair trade
      25 min ago
      article with gallery

 * Business
   Browse Business
    * Aerospace & Defense
    * Autos & Transportation
    * Davos
    * Energy
    * Environment
    * Finance
    * Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
   
    * Media & Telecom
    * Retail & Consumer
    * Future of Health
    * Future of Money
    * Take Five
    * World at Work
   
   Latest in Business
    * Netflix's efforts to grow ad tier in focus as subscriber growth slows
      2 min ago
      article with gallery
    * US online sales hit $7.2 bln on first day of Amazon Prime Day event, Adobe
      says
      2 min ago
      
    * Nasdaq hits two-week low in megacap tech, chip stocks rout
      9 min ago
      
    * Stocks to watch as Biden, Trump vie for presidency
      9 min ago
      article with gallery

 * Markets
   Browse Markets
    * Asian Markets
    * Carbon Markets
    * Commodities
    * Currencies
    * Deals
    * Emerging Markets
    * ETFs
    * European Markets
   
    * Funds
    * Global Market Data
    * Rates & Bonds
    * Stocks
    * U.S. Markets
    * Wealth
    * Macro Matters
   
   Latest in Markets
    * TSX opens lower as tech rout hits Wall Street
      an hour ago
      
    * Most Gulf markets end higher on rising US rate-cut optimism
      3:18 PM GMT+2
      
    * Trump's Taiwan talk rattles Wall Street as chip stocks tumble
      2:17 PM GMT+2
      article with gallery
    * Supply in Canada's property market surges as mortgage renewals loom
      12:36 PM GMT+2
      article with gallery

 * Sustainability
   Browse Sustainability
    * Boards, Policy & Regulation
    * Climate & Energy
    * Land Use & Biodiversity
    * Society & Equity
    * Sustainable Finance & Reporting
    * The Switch
    * Reuters Impact
   
   Latest in Sustainability
    * Exclusive: Capital One pledges $265 billion in lending, philanthropy as it
      tries to clinch Discover deal
      20 min ago
      
    * UK trade union fails to gain recognition at Amazon warehouse in tight vote
      24 min ago
      
    * Comment: By refusing to move fast, net zero standard setter SBTi is
      stifling corporate climate action
      35 min ago
      
    * HSBC names veteran Elhedery as CEO, signals continuity in strategy
      39 min ago
      article with video

 * Legal
   Browse Legal
    * Government
    * Legal Industry
    * Litigation
    * Transactional
    * US Supreme Court
   
   Latest in Legal
    * Health insurer Elevance beats profit estimates on lower medical costs
      19 min ago
      article with gallery
    * Exclusive: Capital One pledges $265 billion in lending, philanthropy as it
      tries to clinch Discover deal
      20 min ago
      
    * UK trade union fails to gain recognition at Amazon warehouse in tight vote
      24 min ago
      
    * US FDA declines to approve Orexo's opioid overdose drug
      25 min ago
      

 * Breakingviews
   Browse Breakingviews
    * Breakingviews Predictions
   
   Latest in Breakingviews
    * European boards have too little skin in the game
      40 min ago
      
    * Ozempic may gift US a $3 trln benefit
      1:59 PM GMT+2
      
    * Trump lays bare TSMC's inherent vulnerabilities
      12:59 PM GMT+2
      
    * World polycrisis hangs on US politics
      July 16, 2024
      

 * Technology
   Browse Technology
    * Artificial Intelligence
    * Cybersecurity
    * Space
    * Disrupted
   
   Latest in Technology
    * US online sales hit $7.2 bln on first day of Amazon Prime Day event, Adobe
      says
      2 min ago
      
    * Chip stocks tumble on fears of tighter China curbs, Trump's Taiwan
      comments
      29 min ago
      article with gallery
    * Google, Microsoft offer Nvidia chips to Chinese companies, the Information
      reports
      an hour ago
      
    * ASML shares fall 7% as China risks cloud solid Q2 earnings
      3:21 PM GMT+2
      article with video

 * Investigations
 * More
   Sports
    * Olympics
    * Athletics
    * Baseball
    * Basketball
    * Cricket
    * Cycling
    * Formula 1
    * Golf
    * NFL
    * NHL
    * Soccer
    * Tennis
   
   Science
   Lifestyle
   Graphics
   Pictures
   Podcasts
   Fact Check
   Video
   Sponsored Content
    * Reuters Plus
   
   Trending Stories
    * Worldcategory
      Trump vice presidential pick J.D. Vance in spotlight at Republican
      convention
      article with video
    * Worldcategory
      Mashco Piro: Rare photos reveal uncontacted tribe in Peruvian Amazon
      article with gallery
    * Exclusive: Google-backed software developer GitLab explores sale
      
    * Worldcategory
      Germany to halve military aid for Ukraine despite possible Trump White
      House
      article with gallery

My News

Sign InRegister

 * Science


STUDY BRINGS LIFESTYLE OF ENIGMATIC EXTINCT HUMANS INTO FOCUS

By Will Dunham
July 3, 20245:13 PM GMT+2Updated 14 days ago
Text
 * Small Text
 * Medium Text
 * Large Text

Share
 * X
 * Facebook
 * Linkedin
 * Email
 * Link

Item 1 of 2 An undated artist's impression of members of the extinct archaic
human species called the Denisovans seen in the landscape of Ganjia Basin on the
northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China's Gansu province, depicting
some of the animals whose bones were found at Baishiya Karst Cave. Xia
Li/Handout via REUTERS
[1/2]An undated artist's impression of members of the extinct archaic human
species called the Denisovans seen in the landscape of Ganjia Basin on the
northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China's Gansu province, depicting
some of the animals whose bones were found at Baishiya Karst Cave. Xia...
Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

July 3 (Reuters) - Thousands of bone fragments discovered in a cave on the
Tibetan Plateau in China are offering rare insight into the lives of Denisovans,
the mysterious extinct cousins of Neanderthals and our own species, showing they
hunted a wide range of animals from sheep to woolly rhinoceros in this
high-altitude abode.
Researchers studied more than 2,500 bones found inside Baishiya Karst Cave,
which is situated 10,760 feet (3,280 meters) above sea level and previously had
yielded Denisovan fossil remains.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue

They used ancient protein analysis on these remains to reveal that the
Denisovans exploited various animals for their meat and skins, and also
excavated and identified a rib bone from a Denisovan individual dating to
48,000-32,000 years ago - the youngest Denisovan fossil yet known.
Most of the bones were identified as belonging to blue sheep, also called
bharal, a goat species still seen on high slope mountains and cliffs in the
Himalayas. Other bone remains came from woolly rhinos, yaks, small mammals like
marmots, birds, and even from the spotted hyena, a large carnivore that prowled
the region called the Ganjia Basin.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue

It was a grass landscape with small forested areas, teeming with life despite
harsh conditions. The animals were butchered for meat, based on cut marks found
on various bones, and there was evidence of bone marrow extraction and skinning
activities. The researchers also found four tools fashioned from animal bone,
shaped for use in processing animal carcasses.
"It is the first time we have gotten an understanding of the subsistence
behaviors of Denisovans, and it shows us they were highly capable of accessing
and utilizing a wide range of animal resources," said University of Copenhagen
molecular anthropologist Frido Welker, one of the leaders of the research
published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, opens new tab.

"I think the diverse animal remains found in Baishiya Karst Cave suggest that
this location offered relatively better resources compared with the neighboring
higher Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese Loess Plateau to the north,
especially in the glacial period," said archeologist Dongju Zhang of Lanzhou
University in China, another of the study leaders.
The existence of Denisovans was unknown until researchers in 2010 announced the
discovery of their remains in Denisova Cave in Siberia, with genetic evidence
showing them to be a sister group to Neanderthals, the stoutly built extinct
archaic humans who inhabited parts of Eurasia. Both experienced significant
interactions with Homo sapiens, including interbreeding, before vanishing soon
after for reasons not fully understood.

"From genetics, we know they diverged from Neanderthals around 400,000 years
ago," Welker said.
Denisovans are known only from dental remains and bone fragments from the
Baishiya Karst and Denisova caves and Cobra Cave in Laos, though their existence
at those three far-flung locations demonstrates a wide geographic dispersal.
Their presence at a high latitude in Siberia, a high altitude on the Tibetan
Plateau and a subtropical location in Laos "implies that Denisovans had high
flexibility to adapt to different environments," Zhang said.

A lower jaw of a Denisovan adolescent previously found at Baishiya Karst is
160,000 years old. The researchers suspect Denisovans were present there as far
back as 200,000 years ago. The newly identified rib fragment shows that
Denisovans still existed as recently as 48,000-32,000 years ago.
"We don't know if the rib was from an adult or a child, nor its genetic sex. It
is the first time a rib specimen has been identified as a Denisovan. Previous
remains are all dental or cranial or mandibular (lower jaw)," Welker said.
Our species, Homo sapiens, did not populate the Tibetan Plateau until about
40,000 years ago, having first appeared in Africa a bit more than 300,000 years
ago.
So what happened to the Denisovans?
"Great question. We know so little," Welker said. "We know that Denisovans
interbred with modern humans. We know that based on some Denisovan DNA that is
present in the genomes of some modern humans living today. But when, where and
why Denisovans ultimately went extinct, that we don't know anything about."

Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the
Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here.

Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Share
 * X
 * Facebook
 * Linkedin
 * Email
 * Link

Purchase Licensing Rights


READ NEXT

 * article with gallery
   SciencecategoryRadar study puts spotlight on Saturn moon Titan's hydrocarbon
   seas
 * SciencecategoryWebb telescope reveals wild weather on cosmic brown dwarfs
 * article with video
   TechnologycategorySpaceX's Falcon 9 grounded after failure dooms batch of
   Starlink satellites
 * article with gallery
   SciencecategoryNASA releases Webb telescope images of a galactic merger
 * article with gallery
   SciencecategoryGenome evidence points to plague in Stone Age European
   population crash
 * SciencecategoryElusive mid-sized black hole spotted at center of swallowed
   galaxy




SCIENCE

 * article with gallery
   
   
   RADAR STUDY PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON SATURN MOON TITAN'S HYDROCARBON SEAS
   
   Sciencecategory · July 16, 2024
   
   NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which explored Saturn and its icy moons, including
   the majestic Titan, ended its mission with a death plunge into the giant
   ringed planet in 2017. But some of the voluminous data gathered by Cassini
   during its 13 years of surveying the Saturnian system is only now being fully
   examined.

 * SciencecategoryWebb telescope reveals wild weather on cosmic brown dwarfsJuly
   15, 2024
 * article with gallery
   SciencecategoryNASA releases Webb telescope images of a galactic mergerJuly
   12, 2024
 * article with gallery
   SciencecategoryGenome evidence points to plague in Stone Age European
   population crashJuly 11, 2024
 * SciencecategoryElusive mid-sized black hole spotted at center of swallowed
   galaxyJuly 10, 2024




SITE INDEX


LATEST

 * Home
 * Authors
 * Topic sitemap


BROWSE

 * World
 * Business
 * Markets
 * Sustainability
 * Legal
 * Breakingviews
 * Technology
 * Investigations
 * Sports
 * Science
 * Lifestyle


MEDIA

 * 
   Videos
 * 
   Pictures
 * 
   Graphics


ABOUT REUTERS

 * About Reuters, opens new tab
 * Careers, opens new tab
 * Reuters News Agency, opens new tab
 * Brand Attribution Guidelines, opens new tab
 * Reuters Leadership, opens new tab
 * Reuters Fact Check
 * Reuters Diversity Report, opens new tab


STAY INFORMED

 * Download the App (iOS), opens new tab
 * Download the App (Android), opens new tab
 * Newsletters


INFORMATION YOU CAN TRUST

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest
multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day.
Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to
professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry
events and directly to consumers.


FOLLOW US

 * X
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * Youtube
 * Linkedin


THOMSON REUTERS PRODUCTS

 * WESTLAW, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   BUILD THE STRONGEST ARGUMENT RELYING ON AUTHORITATIVE CONTENT,
   ATTORNEY-EDITOR EXPERTISE, AND INDUSTRY DEFINING TECHNOLOGY.

 * ONESOURCE, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO MANAGE ALL YOUR COMPLEX AND EVER-EXPANDING
   TAX AND COMPLIANCE NEEDS.

 * CHECKPOINT, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   THE INDUSTRY LEADER FOR ONLINE INFORMATION FOR TAX, ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
   PROFESSIONALS.


LSEG PRODUCTS

 * WORKSPACE, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   ACCESS UNMATCHED FINANCIAL DATA, NEWS AND CONTENT IN A HIGHLY-CUSTOMISED
   WORKFLOW EXPERIENCE ON DESKTOP, WEB AND MOBILE.

 * DATA CATALOGUE, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   BROWSE AN UNRIVALLED PORTFOLIO OF REAL-TIME AND HISTORICAL MARKET DATA AND
   INSIGHTS FROM WORLDWIDE SOURCES AND EXPERTS.

 * WORLD-CHECK, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   SCREEN FOR HEIGHTENED RISK INDIVIDUAL AND ENTITIES GLOBALLY TO HELP UNCOVER
   HIDDEN RISKS IN BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS AND HUMAN NETWORKS.

 * Advertise With Us, opens new tab
 * Advertising Guidelines
 * Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

 * Cookies, opens new tab
 * Terms of Use
 * Privacy, opens new tab
 * Digital Accessibility, opens new tab
 * Corrections
 * Site Feedback, opens new tab

All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of
exchanges and delays.

© 2024 Reuters. All rights reserved






RIGHT TO WITHDRAW CONSENT UNDER GDPR

We and our 211 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as
unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your
choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate
interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will
be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.Cookie
PolicyPrivacy Statement


WE AND OUR PARTNERS PROCESS DATA TO PROVIDE:

Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for
identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised
advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research
and services development. List of Partners (vendors)

Allow All Reject All Show Purposes


Feedback