In October 2026 researchers reported in Nature that skulls and teeth from Xujiayao in northern China belonged to Denisovans, and described what their heads looked like. This film tells how this lost group of humans was discovered from a finger bone in a Siberian cave in 2010, how ancient DNA and ancient proteins identify them, how their genes live on in people from New Guinea to Tibet, how fossils from the Tibetan Plateau, Laos and Harbin were linked to them, and what is still unknown.
Interactive 3D film9 minAbout 500,000 to 30,000 years agoPublished 30 October 2026
For most of human history, our species was not alone. One group of our cousins, the Denisovans, was discovered only in 2010, and their genes live on in millions of people today.
In October 2026 a study in the journal Nature, led by Qiaomei Fu, reported that proteins in two of twenty fossils dug up at Xujiayao, in northern China, in the late 1970s place them among the Denisovans. They had long been filed as Neanderthals or archaic Homo sapiens.
We have known the Denisovans' genes for sixteen years. Can we finally see what they looked like? First, who were they?
A new human group found from a finger bone
How old DNA and proteins are read
Their genes in people today
Fossils across Asia, and a face
In this filmXujiayao, Nihewan Basin Layered river sediments in northern China. AI-generated still.
20
skull, jaw and tooth fossils, dug up 1976–1979
199,000–138,000
years ago: the age of the layers
2
bones tested for ancient proteins
The new study (Nature, Oct 2026)
Prologue
Xujiayao, reread
Archaeology Magazine, on Xing et al. in Nature (2026), “The proteome of Middle Pleistocene Xujiayao and common Denisovan morphology”: 20 skull, jaw and tooth fossils were recovered at Xujiayao in the Nihewan Basin of northern China in 1976–1979, from layers dated to roughly 199,000 to 138,000 years ago; a parietal bone and a jaw were tested for ancient proteins, and both were placed in the Denisovan group. Live Science: the remains had been thought to be Neanderthals or archaic Homo sapiens; the team was led by Qiaomei Fu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; other researchers have assigned East Asian fossils of this kind to proposed species such as Homo juluensis and Homo longi.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
The story starts in a cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia. In 2008 Russian archaeologists found a small scrap of a finger bone there.
In 2010 a team led by Svante Pääbo at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig read the bone's genome, its full set of DNA. It belonged to a female from a group that was neither Neanderthal nor modern human.
The scientists named them after the cave: Denisovans. For the first time, a whole group of humans had been discovered from its genes, before anyone knew what its people looked like. A tooth from the same cave was strange too: its shape was unlike Neanderthal or modern human teeth.
Denisova Cave A cave above a river valley in the Altai. AI-generated still.Denisova 3 A finger-bone fragment in a clean lab. AI-generated still.
2008 Finger bone found in Denisova Cave
2010 Its genome shows a new human group
Name Denisovans, after the cave
Found in a lab (Max Planck Society)
Chapter I · A finger bone
Neither Neanderthal nor modern human
Max Planck Society (December 2010): archaeologists of the Russian Academy of Sciences found part of a finger bone in 2008 in the East Gallery of Denisova Cave in southern Siberia; a team led by Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology sequenced its nuclear genome; it came from a female, at least 30,000 years old, of a group that shared an ancient origin with Neanderthals but had a distinct history; the researchers called the group Denisovans. Australian Museum: Denisova Cave lies in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, Russia; the finger bone is known as Denisova 3.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
Where do they fit? Genetic evidence suggests that Denisovans and Neanderthals split from each other around four hundred to five hundred thousand years ago. Both shared an older common ancestor with our own species, Homo sapiens.
So Denisovans were not our ancestors. They were cousins: Neanderthals lived mostly in Europe and western Asia, and Denisovans further east. Neanderthal fossils are plentiful, but Denisovan ones were, until recently, a handful of teeth and bone scraps.
Denisova Cave itself was used, on and off, from about three hundred thousand to fifty thousand years ago, by Denisovans and at times by Neanderthals too.
400,000–500,000
years ago: Denisovans and Neanderthals part ways
A split (Australian Museum)Cousins, not ancestors A cast of an archaic human skull in a museum. AI-generated still.
Homo sapiens: us, from Africa
Neanderthals: Europe and western Asia
Denisovans: Asia, from Siberia eastward
Three human groups
~300,000–50,000
years ago: when the cave was used
Denisova Cave (Australian Museum)
Chapter I · A finger bone
Cousins
Australian Museum: genetic evidence suggests Denisovans and Neanderthals split around 400,000 to 500,000 years ago; sediment analysis indicates Denisova Cave was occupied from about 300,000 to 50,000 years ago; the overall age range given for Denisovans is about 500,000 to 30,000 years ago. Max Planck Society: Denisovans shared an ancient origin with Neanderthals but had a distinct history, and unlike Neanderthals did not contribute genes to all present-day Eurasians.
Try it: tap through the branches. The tree is simplified; dates of splits are estimates.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
DNA where it survives, proteins where it does not.
DNA breaks down after death, but in a cold, dry cave like Denisova, short pieces can survive for tens of thousands of years. Scientists read millions of them and stitch them back together. To avoid mixing in their own DNA, they work in sealed clean rooms, covered from head to toe.
The cave held more surprises. A bone fragment found there in 2012 belonged to a girl at least thirteen years old, whose mother was a Neanderthal and whose father was a Denisovan.
Scientists nicknamed her Denny. Her genome, published in 2018, showed that the two groups met and had children together.
Clean room An ancient DNA laboratory. AI-generated still.
DNA breaks into short pieces after death
Cold and dryness slow the damage
Labs must keep out modern DNA
Why caves matter
13+
years old at death
♀ Neanderthal
mother
♂ Denisovan
father
Denisova 11, “Denny” (Nature, 2018)Mixed ancestry A double helix with one segment from another lineage. AI-generated still.
Chapter II · Reading old molecules
A child of two peoples
Phys.org (August 2018), on Slon et al. in Nature: Denisova 11, nicknamed “Denny”, was a female at least 13 years old, the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father; the bone fragment was unearthed in 2012 at Denisova Cave in Siberia’s Altai Mountains. The film’s description of ancient DNA as short surviving fragments, preserved better in cold dry caves and read in clean laboratories, is a simplified summary of standard methods.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
In warmer places DNA rarely survives, but proteins can last much longer. Proteins are chains of amino acids, and their order is written by our genes.
In 2019 proteins from a molar in a jawbone found on the Tibetan Plateau, at least a hundred and sixty thousand years old, linked it to the Denisovans: the first Denisovan fossil found outside Siberia.
One tell-tale spot is in collagen, the main protein of bone. At one position, Denisovans tested so far carry the amino acid lysine, while Neanderthals and modern humans carry arginine. Compare the two chains. Both Xujiayao bones carry lysine there. Proteins can place them in the Denisovan group, though no more finely than that.
A protein chain Beads standing for amino acids. AI-generated still.
≥ 160,000
years old, from Baishiya Karst Cave
protein
from a molar linked it to Denisovans
The Xiahe jaw (Nature, 2019)The Tibetan Plateau A cave in a high-altitude landscape. AI-generated still.
Denisovans tested so far: lysine
Neanderthals and modern humans: arginine
Xujiayao bones: lysine
Collagen COL1A2, position 996 (Archaeology Magazine)
2,074
amino acid positions compared
> 99%
support for the Denisovan placement
The Xujiayao protein test (Archaeology Magazine)
Chapter II · Reading old molecules
Proteins last longer
Chinese Academy of Sciences: the Xiahe mandible from Baishiya Karst Cave on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau has a minimum age of 160,000 years from U-series dating; collagen from a molar linked it to Denisovans (Nature, 2019). Australian Museum: it was the only Denisovan fossil known outside Denisova Cave when announced in 2019. Archaeology Magazine, on the 2026 Xujiayao study: at amino acid position 996 of the collagen protein COL1A2 both Xujiayao bones carried lysine, which every Denisovan tested so far has, rather than the arginine found in Neanderthals and modern humans; a tree built from 2,074 amino acid positions placed both in the Denisovan group with over 99% support.
Try it: switch between the two chains. Only one position is shown as it really is; the other beads are illustrative.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
When modern humans spread out of Africa and across Asia, they met Denisovans and had children with them, as they did with Neanderthals.
The clearest trace is far to the southeast. People in Papua New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia, and Indigenous Australians, carry about three to five percent Denisovan DNA. A 2021 study found even more in the Ayta Magbukon people of the Philippines: up to forty-six percent more than in Papuans and Australians. These stretches were recognised by comparing living people's genomes with the genome from the cave.
Unlike Neanderthal DNA, which is found in all present-day Eurasians, Denisovan DNA is spread unevenly: plentiful in some places, rare or absent in others.
New Guinea Highland valleys at sunrise. AI-generated still.
~3–5%
Melanesians, Indigenous Australians; more still in the Ayta Magbukon
Denisovan share of the genome (Australian Museum)
up to +46%
more Denisovan ancestry than Papuans and Australians
The Ayta Magbukon, Philippines (Current Biology, 2021)
Neanderthal DNA: in all present-day Eurasians
Denisovan DNA: not in all of them
Highest found so far: the Ayta Magbukon, Philippines (2021)
Two kinds of inheritance (Max Planck Society, Uppsala University)
Chapter III · In our genes
A legacy in living people
Max Planck Society (2010): Denisovans share an elevated number of genetic variants with present-day Papua New Guineans, suggesting they interbred with the ancestors of Melanesians, and unlike Neanderthals they did not contribute genes to all present-day Eurasians. Australian Museum: Melanesians and Indigenous Australians carry about 3–5% Denisovan DNA, from interbreeding as modern human ancestors migrated through Asia. Sci.News (2014): the genomes of Melanesians are nearly 5% Denisovan. Uppsala University (2021): the Ayta Magbukon, a Negrito group in the Philippines, have up to 46% more Denisovan ancestry than Australians and Papuans (Current Biology).
The glow on the globe marks regions named in the sources, not measured percentages.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
Some of those genes were useful. On the Tibetan Plateau, above four and a half thousand metres, the air holds much less oxygen.
Most people who move that high make extra red blood cells, which can cause problems. Many Tibetans carry a version of a gene called EPAS1 that keeps the response mild.
In 2014 researchers found that part of this gene is almost identical to the Denisovan version, and rare in other people. It looks like a gift from ancient cousins, kept because it helped people live high up.
Above 4,500 m Yaks on a high plateau meadow. AI-generated still.
Switched on when blood oxygen drops
Usual response at altitude: more haemoglobin
Tibetan variant: only a slight rise
EPAS1 (Sci.News, on Nature 2014)
40 + 40
Tibetans and Han Chinese sequenced
“almost identical”
to the Denisovan gene, the researchers wrote
The study (Huerta-Sánchez et al., Nature, 2014)
Chapter III · In our genes
A gene for the heights
Sci.News, on Huerta-Sánchez et al. in Nature (published online 2 July 2014): EPAS1 is activated when blood oxygen drops, triggering more haemoglobin; an unusual EPAS1 variant became widespread among Tibetans after they settled the plateau and lets them live at 4,500 m or more, raising haemoglobin and red blood cells only slightly; part of the Tibetan EPAS1 is “almost identical to the gene in Denisovans”, and the variant is rare in Han Chinese; the team sequenced EPAS1 in 40 Tibetans and 40 Han Chinese. This is education, not medical advice.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
Bit by bit, fossils across Asia have been tied to the Denisovans. In Cobra Cave in northern Laos, Thailand's neighbour, a child's tooth about a hundred and thirty-one to a hundred and sixty-four thousand years old most likely belonged to one. DNA did not survive there; the tooth's shape matches the jaw from Tibet.
In 2025 proteins identified a jaw dredged from the seabed off Taiwan as a Denisovan man's. The same year, two studies by Qiaomei Fu's team linked the Harbin skull, at least a hundred and forty-six thousand years old, to the Denisovans, using proteins and DNA from the tartar on its teeth.
Now Xujiayao joins them. Its authors argue that more Chinese fossils, such as Dali and Jinniushan, belong to the same line. They also note that other human lineages may have lived in East Asia at the same time.
Northern Laos Karst mountains with a cave mouth. AI-generated still.
164,000–131,000
years ago (131,000–164,000)
3.5–8.5
years old: the child
“most likely”
Denisovan, from the tooth’s shape
Tam Ngu Hao 2, Laos (Nature Communications, 2022)
2019 Xiahe jaw, Tibetan Plateau (protein)
2022 Tooth from Laos (shape)
2025 Penghu jaw, Taiwan (protein)
2025 Harbin skull (protein, DNA)
2026 Xujiayao, 20 fossils (protein)
Denisovan finds outside Siberia
Penghu jaw: an international team (Science, 2025)
Harbin skull: earlier named Homo longi
Harbin and Xujiayao: both from Qiaomei Fu’s team
Who did the work
Dali, Jinniushan, Hualongdong
Chinese fossils the authors would add
~300,000–45,000
years ago: the span that would follow
If the authors are right (Archaeology Magazine)
Chapter IV · Across Asia
A map that keeps growing
Sci.News, on Demeter et al. in Nature Communications (2022): a permanent lower molar from Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra Cave) in Huà Pan province, in the Annamite Mountains of northern Laos, dated to about 164,000–131,000 years ago, belonged to a child aged about 3.5–8.5, likely female from proteins; identified by its shape, which closely matches the Xiahe jaw, it “most likely represents a Denisovan”; DNA did not survive the humid climate. Sci.News (June 2025): the Harbin cranium, found in 1933 and at least 146,000 years old, was linked to Denisovans by proteins (Science) and by mitochondrial DNA from its dental calculus (Cell), both by teams led by Qiaomei Fu; the cranium had earlier been named a new species, Homo longi. University of Copenhagen (11 April 2025): the Penghu 1 jaw, dredged from the Penghu Channel off Taiwan, was identified as a male Denisovan by ancient proteins (Science). Archaeology Magazine: the Xujiayao authors argue that Jinniushan, Dali and Hualongdong also belong to the Denisovan line; if so, the range would run from Siberia to Taiwan and span about 300,000 to 45,000 years ago.
Try it: step from site to site on the globe. Markers are approximate.
The globe and the family tree are simplified teaching models: site markers are approximate, and branch lengths are not to scale.
If the protein results hold, the Xujiayao skulls give the clearest picture yet of a Denisovan head.
The braincase is low and wide, with thick walls, like older humans such as Homo erectus. The back of the skull is more upright and less rounded than ours. Yet one skull held a brain of about seventeen hundred millilitres, within the range of people today.
The team's reconstruction shows a heavy brow. It is an interpretation, not a portrait, and the paleoanthropologist Chris Stringer cautions that Denisovans varied, so more fossils may surprise us. An earlier DNA study had suggested dark skin, hair and eyes; bones and proteins cannot show those.
Measuring a skull Calipers and a fossil fragment on a desk. AI-generated still.
Low, wide braincase with thick walls
A more vertical, less rounded back of the skull
A rare dip on the jaw (planum triangulare)
The Xujiayao skulls (Live Science, Archaeology Magazine)
~1,700 mL
brain size, within the modern human range
Xujiayao 6
Denisovans were genetically varied
Their anatomy may vary too
One site is a small sample
A caution (Chris Stringer, via Live Science)An open question A cast of an archaic human skull. AI-generated still.
Chapter V · Almost a face
What the skulls show
Live Science: the Xujiayao skulls combine traits seen in Homo erectus (a low, wide braincase and thick cranial bones), Neanderthals and modern humans; a unique trait is a more vertical, less rounded back of the skull; the team’s facial reconstruction shows a massive brow ridge and is an interpretation of what a Denisovan might have looked like; an earlier DNA study had suggested dark skin, hair and eyes, which bones and proteins cannot show; Chris Stringer, not involved, notes that Denisovans were genetically varied and that their anatomy may vary too; the sample comes from one site. Archaeology Magazine: the jaw has a dip in the planum triangulare, rare in other Homo; Xujiayao 6’s brain size of about 1,700 mL falls within the modern human range.
Try it: compare a schematic profile of a low, wide braincase with a high, rounded one. These are drawings, not traced fossils.
Sixteen years ago the Denisovans were unknown. Today we know them from a finger bone, a few teeth, some jaws and skulls, and from the genes of living people.
They remind us that for most of human history, our species shared the world with other kinds of people, and sometimes made families with them. Some of their genes still help people today, from the highlands of New Guinea to the roof of the world.
How far did they range? How many kinds were there? And what did they really look like? Every new fossil may change the answer.
2010 A genome from a finger bone
2014 Tibetans’ high-altitude gene traced to them
2018 Denny: Neanderthal mother, Denisovan father
2019 Xiahe jaw, by its proteins
2022 A likely Denisovan tooth in Laos
2025 Harbin skull linked
2026 Xujiayao skulls
Finding the Denisovans
Stills are AI-generated; no real faces are shown
Globe markers are approximate
Skull outlines and protein beads are schematic
About this film
How far did they range?
One group, or several?
What did they look like?
Still open
Epilogue · Sources
Sources
Every fact in this film comes from the sources below, which report on peer-reviewed studies. The chapter stills and pictures are AI-generated; none shows a reconstructed face. The globe uses NASA Blue Marble imagery with approximate site markers; the family tree, protein chain and skull profiles are schematic.
