Two fragments of a Denisovan skull have been found at the famous Denisova Cave! Mitochondrial DNA extracted from the surprisingly thick pieces of braincase was used to confirm that they belonged to a Denisovan. These are the first known remains of a Denisovan skull. Its exciting for multiple reasons. It allows us to guesstimate how large their brains were, compare their evolution to the Homo family tree, and perhaps help understand why they no longer exist today.
A reconstruction of the skull was compared to 112 modern Homo sapiens skulls, and 30 stone-age Homo skulls including Homo sapiens and Neanderthals and interestingly, the Denisovan skull did not quite fit in with any previously-known Homo species’ skulls. More will be known as further analyses are carried out and, hopefully, additional Denisovan remains are found!
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