2026年9月9日，中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所付巧妹等科学家在《自然》（Nature）发表研究，利用古蛋白鉴定出中国西南的多种丹尼索瓦人遗骸。

十多年的多学科研究已鉴定出亚洲各地一系列丹尼索瓦人颅骨、面部和牙齿遗骸，为了解其颅容量、外观、饮食和演化历史提供了见解。然而，对其时空扩散和形态表型的理解受到中国西南明显分布空白和颅后遗骸稀缺的限制，尤其是缺乏具有诊断特征的长骨。为了鉴定更多古人类长骨，研究人员对来自中国西南蝙蝠洞的超过6万件骨骼碎片进行了形态学筛查，其中76件被选用于质谱动物考古学分析，17件用于蛋白质组测序分析。这些分析鉴定出三件古人类化石，包括两件顶骨碎片和一件桡骨近端碎片，来自距今约16.7万至13.4万年前的地层。后续蛋白质组分析确认，这些新鉴定的古人类骨骼以及发掘期间发现的两颗古人类牙齿在分类上属于丹尼索瓦人。这些发现确立蝙蝠洞为丹尼索瓦人地点，产出西伯利亚丹尼索瓦洞之外该古人类群体最丰富的遗骸。结果还填补了丹尼索瓦人已记录分布中的关键地理空白，并完善了对某演化历史的理解。此外，这项研究提供了关于丹尼索瓦人桡骨形态的直接信息，为了解其颅后表型提供了见解。

附：英文原文

Title: Ancient proteins identify various Denisovan remains from Southwest China

Author: Rao, Huiyun, Xing, Song, Ruan, Qijun, Bai, Fan, Zhao, Yuhao, Wu, Zhongyou, Tang, Siyuan, Andrew Bennett, E., Feng, Xiaotian, Lin, Sungui, Shao, Qingfeng, Yang, Xiong, Li, Zitao, Zhou, Kai, Liu, Feng, Fu, Qiaomei

Issue&Volume: 2026-09-09

Abstract: More than a decade of multidisciplinary research has identified a collection of cranial, facial and dental remains of Denisovans from across Asia, providing insight into their cranial capacity, appearance, diet and evolutionary history. However, our understanding of their spatiotemporal dispersal and morphological phenotype is limited by a conspicuous distribution gap in Southwest China and the scarcity of postcranial remains, in particular, the absence of long bones with diagnostic characteristics. To identify further hominin long bones, we morphologically screened more than 60,000 bone fragments from Bianfu Cave in Southwest China, of which 76 were selected for zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry and 17 for proteomic sequencing analysis. These analyses identified three hominin fossils, comprising two parietal bone fragments and one proximal radial fragment, from layers dated to approximately 167–134 thousand years ago1. Subsequent proteomic analysis confirmed the taxonomic affiliation of these newly identified hominin bones, as well as that of two hominin teeth discovered during the excavation, as Denisovan. These findings establish Bianfu Cave as a Denisovan locality yielding the most abundant remains of this hominin group outside Denisova Cave in Siberia. The results also fill a critical geographic gap in the documented distribution of Denisovans and refine our understanding of their evolutionary history. Furthermore, this study provides direct information on the radial morphology of Denisovans, providing insight into their postcranial phenotype.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10976-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10976-9