Two fossilized leg bones of Denisovans — an extinct archaic Homo group whose lineage diverged from the Neanderthal lineage 550,000 years in the past and was broadly distributed throughout japanese Asia till 45,000 years in the past — dredged many years in the past from the seafloor off Taiwan point out that no less than some members of the group have been remarkably large-bodied.
An artist’s idea of a Penghu Denisovan strolling below the intense Solar in the course of the Pleistocene of Taiwan. Picture credit score: Cheng-Han Solar.
“Denisovans (or Denisova clade) is a sister group of Neanderthal proposed from historical genomic proof,” Dr. Yousuke Kaifu, a researcher on the College of Tokyo and the Nationwide Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, and colleagues wrote of their paper.
“Up to now, a well-preserved skull, two mandibles, dental stays, a phalanx, and different fragmentary fossils from Denisova Cave (southern Siberia), Xiahe (Tibet), Harbin (Northeast China), and Penghu (Taiwan) have been biomolecularly identified as belonging to this clade.”
“Based mostly on the earlier morphological research of those fossils, diagnostic morphological options of the Denisovans now embody a big mind dimension, a sturdy mandibular physique, giant tooth, a three-rooted decrease second molar, and a lowered/poor third molar, non-Neanderthal-like phalange, amongst others.”
“Nonetheless, Denisovan’s physique structure akin to physique dimension and proportion, skeletal robusticity, in addition to their basic postcranial morphology stay unknown, apart from hypothetical inference primarily based on their DNA, as a result of paucity of their postcranial stays.”
Within the new analysis, the authors examined two Denisovan leg bones — a femur and a tibia referred to as Penghu 2 and Penghu 3 — recovered from the Penghu Channel, a stretch of submerged continental shelf within the Taiwan Strait.
They analyzed historical proteins preserved within the specimens and located a genetic variant in a collagen protein that’s particular to Denisovans.
Radiocarbon courting of associated fossils from the identical channel suggests the bones are between 45,000 and 43,000 years outdated, not lengthy earlier than Denisovans are thought to have disappeared.
What stunned the researchers most was the sheer dimension of the bones.
Based mostly on their dimensions, the scientists estimated that the femur’s proprietor stood about 180 cm (5 toes 11 inches) tall and weighed roughly 83 kg (183 kilos), whereas the tibia’s proprietor could have reached about 190 cm (6 toes 3 inches) and 91 kg (200 kilos).
These sizes rival the biggest identified people from Pleistocene Africa and Europe and dwarf earlier Homo erectus populations and Stone Age trendy people from the identical area.
The discovering runs counter to a long-standing expectation in paleoanthropology, referred to as Bergmann’s rule, which predicts that populations residing farther from the equator are usually larger-bodied, whereas these nearer to the tropics — like Taiwan, at roughly 23 levels north latitude — are usually smaller.
In accordance with the group, Denisovans’ unusually giant stature could as an alternative be tied to their meat-based weight loss plan and searching technique.
“Given the latest proof that Denisovan inhabitants in Tibetan Plateau exploited a variety of animal species together with Caprinae (sheep and goats), megaherbivores and carnivores, and isotopic proof that the Penghu 3 particular person closely relied on meat, one potential speculation is that the big physique dimension was important for his or her searching technique counting on a software equipment totally different from these of the native Homo sapiens, who achieved explosive geographic growth past the distribution of the Denisovans, and invented refined instruments akin to seagoing crafts and fishhooks,” the authors stated.
The Penghu 2 femur additionally displayed an surprising trait: a pronounced ridge of bone on its again floor, referred to as a pilaster, that’s sometimes related to trendy people and thought to mirror a extremely cell way of life.
The function may mirror both behavioral convergence with early trendy people or interbreeding between the 2 teams, a risk in step with earlier genetic proof of gene move between Denisovans and anatomically trendy Homo sapiens in Asia.
“Though genetic foundation of femoral pilaster stays unknown and this speculation should be examined finally by genomic knowledge from Denisovan fossils, it doesn’t contradict with the genomic proof of Denisovan introgression into trendy people in southern Asia, and chronological overlap between Penghu 3 and the earliest trendy people on this area,” the researchers stated.
The group’s paper was posted August 8, 2026 on the preprint server bioRxiv.org.
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Yousuke Kaifu et al. 2026. Denisovan leg bones from Taiwan reveal giant physique dimension. bioRxiv, doi: 10.64898/2026.08.07.743438
