Locations of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia and Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau. The two sites are 2,275 km (1,414 mi) apart.
The Xiahe mandible was discovered in 1980 in the Baishiya Karst Cave, located on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Xiahe County, Gansu, China. It was found by a Tibetan Buddhist monk who was meditating in the cave. He passed the bone to Jigme Tenpe Wangchug [zh], the sixth Gungthang [de]tulku, who recognized it as an important hominin fossil and gave it to geologist Dong Guangrong of Lanzhou University in the 1980s.[1][2][3] Dong and his colleague Chen Fahu researched the mandible, but it was so unusual that they did not know how to classify it. As their research focus was geology and not palaeoanthropology, the fossil was overlooked for decades.[1][3]
In 2010, Chen and his Ph.D. student Zhang Dongju began to study the bone together with Dong and surveyed a number of caves in the Xiahe area. As so much time had passed since its initial discovery, it took them six years to ascertain that the fossil came from Baishiya Karst Cave.[4][3] As the cave is a Buddhist sanctuary, the excavation was further delayed by the need to obtain permits from the relevant religious and cultural authorities. In 2018, Zhang and her colleagues finally conducted a systematic excavation of the cave and discovered numerous Palaeolithic tools and animal bones bearing cut marks.[2][3] The Lanzhou University team reached out to Jean-Jacques Hublin at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Hublin and his Ph.D. student Frido Welker joined the research and helped identify the mandible as Denisovan using protein analysis.[2]
The Xiahe mandible consists of the right half of a partial mandible with two attached molars.[7] The mandible was covered with a carbonate crust. Uranium-series dating of the carbonate crust places the mandible at over 160,000 years old.[7] It predates Nwya Devu, hitherto the earliest known human presence in a high-altitude, low-oxygen environment, by about 120,000 years.[1][3]
Researchers failed in their attempts to extract DNA from the fossil. However, they succeeded in identifying surviving ancient proteome in the dentine of one of the molars of the fossil; the Xiahe proteome shares a closest phylogenetic match to that of the high coverage Denisovan fossil from Denisova Cave, Denisova 3.[7] Protein analysis also shows that the Xiahe mandible exhibits a single amino acid polymorphism, COL1α2 R996K, that is only shared by one other specimen on record, Denisova 3; this polymorphism is not found in any other ancient or modern reference population. The mandible also exhibits a single amino acid polymorphism, COL2α1 E583G, that is unique to itself.[8] By way of protein analysis, researchers concluded that the Xiahe specimen belonged to a population that was closely related to the Denisovan specimens from Denisova Cave.[9] This is the first time that an ancient hominin was successfully identified using only protein analysis.[10] It is the most complete known Denisovan fossil.[10] This fossil discovery adds supporting evidence for the notion that archaic hominins were successful in adapting to a high-altitude, low-oxygen environment.[7][2]
The Xiahe mandible and its teeth exhibit general morphology that is typical of Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils. Researchers describe the mandible as being "very robust". The Xiahe mandible shares one obvious trait, large teeth, that is similar to the Denisovan fossils on record from Denisova Cave. The mandible also shows morphological similarities to some later East Asian fossils such as Penghu 1.[7][10]
^Ni, X.; Ji, Q.; Wu, W.; et al. (2021). "Massive cranium from Harbin in northeastern China establishes a new Middle Pleistocene human lineage". Innovation. 2 (3): 100130. Bibcode:2021Innov...200130N. doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100130. PMC8454562. PMID 34557770. S2CID 236784246.
^Chen, F.; Welker, F.; Shen, C.-C.; et al. (2019). "A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau" (PDF). Nature. 569 (7756): 409–412. Bibcode:2019Natur.569..409C. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1139-x. PMID 31043746. S2CID 141503768.
^Scharping, Nathaniel (31 December 2019). "Denisovan Research Reveals That Early Humans Were More Complex Than We Thought". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^"Top 10 stories of 2019: A black hole picture, measles outbreaks, climate protests and more". Science News. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
^"The top 10 science stories of 2019". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
Sourcesedit
Chen, Fahu; Welker, Frido; Shen, Chuan-Chou; Bailey, Shara E.; Bergmann, Inga; Davis, Simon; Xia, Huan; Wang, Hui; Fischer, Roman; Freidline, Sarah E.; Yu, Tsai-Luen; Skinner, Matthew M.; Stelzer, Stefanie; Dong, Guangrong; Fu, Qiaomei; Dong, Guanghui; Wang, Jian; Zhang, Dongju; Hublin, Jean-Jacques (1 May 2019). "A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau" (PDF). Nature. 569 (7756). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 409–412. Bibcode:2019Natur.569..409C. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1139-x. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 31043746. S2CID 141503768.
Gibbons, Anne (1 May 2019). "First fossil jaw of Denisovans finally puts a face on elusive human relatives". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
He, Liping (2 May 2019). "中国学者领衔发现夏河丹尼索瓦人：16万年前登上青藏高原". The Paper (in Chinese).
Hublin, Jean-Jacques (1 May 2019). "How We Found an Elusive Hominin in China". SAPIENS. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
"First hominins on the Tibetan Plateau were Denisovans". Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
Warren, Matthew (1 May 2019). "Biggest Denisovan fossil yet spills ancient human's secrets". Nature. 569 (7754): 16–17. Bibcode:2019Natur.569...16W. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01395-0. PMID 31043736. S2CID 141503756.
Wu, Bin (2 May 2019). "这块骨头来自一个神秘人种，证明16万年前古人类已登上青藏高原". Sohu (in Chinese). Retrieved 2 May 2019.
May 02, 2024
xiahe, mandible, ɕja, khuh, hominin, fossil, mandible, discovered, baishiya, karst, cave, located, northeastern, edge, tibetan, plateau, xiahe, county, gansu, china, palaeoproteomic, analysis, first, confirmed, discovery, denisovan, fossil, outside, denisova, . The Xiahe mandible ɕja xɤ sh ya khuh is a hominin fossil jaw mandible discovered in Baishiya Karst Cave located on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Xiahe County Gansu China By the use of palaeoproteomic analysis it is the first confirmed discovery of a Denisovan fossil outside of Denisova Cave and the most complete confirmed Denisovan fossil This fossil discovery shows that archaic hominins were present in a high altitude low oxygen environment around 160 000 years ago Discover Science News and Nova all named the discovery of the mandible in their lists of Top Science Stories of 2019 Xiahe mandibleCommon nameXiahe mandibleSpeciesDenisovanAge160 000 yearsPlace discoveredGansu ChinaDate discovered1980Contents 1 History 2 Findings 3 Importance 4 References 5 SourcesHistory edit nbsp nbsp Denisova Cave nbsp Baishiya Karst Caveclass notpageimage Locations of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia and Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau The two sites are 2 275 km 1 414 mi apart The Xiahe mandible was discovered in 1980 in the Baishiya Karst Cave located on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Xiahe County Gansu China It was found by a Tibetan Buddhist monk who was meditating in the cave He passed the bone to Jigme Tenpe Wangchug zh the sixth Gungthang de tulku who recognized it as an important hominin fossil and gave it to geologist Dong Guangrong of Lanzhou University in the 1980s 1 2 3 Dong and his colleague Chen Fahu researched the mandible but it was so unusual that they did not know how to classify it As their research focus was geology and not palaeoanthropology the fossil was overlooked for decades 1 3 In 2010 Chen and his Ph D student Zhang Dongju began to study the bone together with Dong and surveyed a number of caves in the Xiahe area As so much time had passed since its initial discovery it took them six years to ascertain that the fossil came from Baishiya Karst Cave 4 3 As the cave is a Buddhist sanctuary the excavation was further delayed by the need to obtain permits from the relevant religious and cultural authorities In 2018 Zhang and her colleagues finally conducted a systematic excavation of the cave and discovered numerous Palaeolithic tools and animal bones bearing cut marks 2 3 The Lanzhou University team reached out to Jean Jacques Hublin at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Hublin and his Ph D student Frido Welker joined the research and helped identify the mandible as Denisovan using protein analysis 2 Findings editRecent human family tree Neanderthals Homo antecessor Jinniushan Hualong Dali Xiahe Harbin Modern humans According to Ni et al 2021 5 note Xiahe and Denisovans are most closely related to Neanderthals according to nDNA and ancient protein analyses by Chen et al 2019 6 The Xiahe mandible consists of the right half of a partial mandible with two attached molars 7 The mandible was covered with a carbonate crust Uranium series dating of the carbonate crust places the mandible at over 160 000 years old 7 It predates Nwya Devu hitherto the earliest known human presence in a high altitude low oxygen environment by about 120 000 years 1 3 Researchers failed in their attempts to extract DNA from the fossil However they succeeded in identifying surviving ancient proteome in the dentine of one of the molars of the fossil the Xiahe proteome shares a closest phylogenetic match to that of the high coverage Denisovan fossil from Denisova Cave Denisova 3 7 Protein analysis also shows that the Xiahe mandible exhibits a single amino acid polymorphism COL1a2 R996K that is only shared by one other specimen on record Denisova 3 this polymorphism is not found in any other ancient or modern reference population The mandible also exhibits a single amino acid polymorphism COL2a1 E583G that is unique to itself 8 By way of protein analysis researchers concluded that the Xiahe specimen belonged to a population that was closely related to the Denisovan specimens from Denisova Cave 9 This is the first time that an ancient hominin was successfully identified using only protein analysis 10 It is the most complete known Denisovan fossil 10 This fossil discovery adds supporting evidence for the notion that archaic hominins were successful in adapting to a high altitude low oxygen environment 7 2 The Xiahe mandible and its teeth exhibit general morphology that is typical of Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils Researchers describe the mandible as being very robust The Xiahe mandible shares one obvious trait large teeth that is similar to the Denisovan fossils on record from Denisova Cave The mandible also shows morphological similarities to some later East Asian fossils such as Penghu 1 7 10 Importance editDiscover Science News and Nova all named the discovery of the mandible in their lists of Top Science Stories of 2019 11 12 13 References edit a b c Gibbons 2019 a b c d Hublin 2019 a b c d e Wu 2019 He 2019 Ni X Ji Q Wu W et al 2021 Massive cranium from Harbin in northeastern China establishes a new Middle Pleistocene human lineage Innovation 2 3 100130 Bibcode 2021Innov 200130N doi 10 1016 j xinn 2021 100130 PMC 8454562 PMID 34557770 S2CID 236784246 Chen F Welker F Shen C C et al 2019 A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau PDF Nature 569 7756 409 412 Bibcode 2019Natur 569 409C doi 10 1038 s41586 019 1139 x PMID 31043746 S2CID 141503768 a b c d e Chen et al 2019 Chen et al 2019 Supplementary Max Planck Gesellschaft 2019 a b c Warren 2019 Scharping Nathaniel 31 December 2019 Denisovan Research Reveals That Early Humans Were More Complex Than We Thought Discover Magazine Retrieved 25 February 2020 Top 10 stories of 2019 A black hole picture measles outbreaks climate protests and more Science News 16 December 2019 Retrieved 25 February 2020 The top 10 science stories of 2019 www pbs org Retrieved 25 February 2020 Sources editChen Fahu Welker Frido Shen Chuan Chou Bailey Shara E Bergmann Inga Davis Simon Xia Huan Wang Hui Fischer Roman Freidline Sarah E Yu Tsai Luen Skinner Matthew M Stelzer Stefanie Dong Guangrong Fu Qiaomei Dong Guanghui Wang Jian Zhang Dongju Hublin Jean Jacques 1 May 2019 A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau PDF Nature 569 7756 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 409 412 Bibcode 2019Natur 569 409C doi 10 1038 s41586 019 1139 x ISSN 0028 0836 PMID 31043746 S2CID 141503768 Gibbons Anne 1 May 2019 First fossil jaw of Denisovans finally puts a face on elusive human relatives Science AAAS Retrieved 1 May 2019 He Liping 2 May 2019 中国学者领衔发现夏河丹尼索瓦人 16万年前登上青藏高原 The Paper in Chinese Hublin Jean Jacques 1 May 2019 How We Found an Elusive Hominin in China SAPIENS Retrieved 2 May 2019 First hominins on the Tibetan Plateau were Denisovans Max Planck Gesellschaft 11 April 2019 Retrieved 1 May 2019 Warren Matthew 1 May 2019 Biggest Denisovan fossil yet spills ancient human s secrets Nature 569 7754 16 17 Bibcode 2019Natur 569 16W doi 10 1038 d41586 019 01395 0 PMID 31043736 S2CID 141503756 Wu Bin 2 May 2019 这块骨头来自一个神秘人种 证明16万年前古人类已登上青藏高原 Sohu in Chinese Retrieved 2 May 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Xiahe mandible amp oldid 1187356020, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
