Taiwan

Two leg bones dredged from the Taiwan Strait suggest that at least some Denisovans were exceptionally tall, powerfully built, and reliant on terrestrial meat. The specimens, named Penghu 2 and Penghu 3, are a partial right femur and a right tibia. Ancient proteins recovered from both bones include a Denisovan-associated collagen variant, while broader protein comparisons place them alongside the previously identified Penghu mandible and a Denisovan from Denisova Cave. That molecular evidence is significant because Denisovan anatomy has previously been known mainly from a skull, jaws, teeth, a finger bone, and other fragments. The findings, are yet to be peer reviewed, but have been released in two new bioRxiv preprints and covered by Science. They offer one of the