Child’s tooth found in Laos offers clues to extinct Neanderthal cousins that once lived in China
- The tooth is one of the few physical remains known of Denisovans, a sister lineage to Neanderthals
- This is the first time a Denisovan has been found in a warm region, as previous remains were found in Siberia and in the Himalayas
A young girl’s tooth excavated from a cave wall in northeastern Laos is providing new insight into the mysterious extinct human species called Denisovans and revealing their resourcefulness in adapting to both tropical and chilly climes.
The tooth is one of the few physical remains known of Denisovans, a sister lineage to Neanderthals who until now had been known only from scrappy dental and bone fossils from a single site in Siberia and one in the Himalayas.
The molar, between 164,000 and 131,000 years old, belonged to a girl about 4-6 years old and had not yet erupted.
Researchers believe the discovery proves that Denisovans – a now-extinct branch of humanity – lived in the warm tropics of Southeast Asia.
Very little is known about the Denisovans, a cousin of Neanderthals.
Scientists first discovered them while working in a Siberian cave in 2010 and finding a finger bone of a girl belonging to a previously unidentified group of humans.
