Although there are a variety of archaic human remains from China that date to the Middle Pleistocene, reaching agreement on how to slot them into hominin phylogeny has proved challenging. Two papers led by Qiaomei Fu published in Science and Cell in summer 2025 used molecular methods to overcome this difficulty for one specimen of interest, a hominin cranium from Harbin, China. Dated using uranium series to a minimum of 146,000 years ago, the Harbin cranium has been suggested as a possible Denisovan or a new sister species to Homo sapiens. In the Science paper, Fu et al. report successful retrieval of 95 endogenous proteins from the Harbin cranium, including three amino-acid variants derived from Denisovans. A protein-based phylogeny grouped Harbin with the Denisova 3 genome, further supporting a Denisovan affiliation. In the Cell paper, the authors report successful ancient mtDNA extraction from the Harbin cranium’s dental calculus. The mtDNA falls within Denisovan mtDNA variation and is related to a mtDNA branch found in individuals at Denisova Cave. The attribution of the Harbin cranium to Denisovans broadens the geographical and environmental range known for this elusive species. We highlight these papers in our Year in Review section not only for their demonstration of the ongoing potential of molecular techniques to aid in the thorny problem of hominin phylogenetic placement, but also because of the insights achieved by finally providing us with an idea of what a Denisovan looked like — a challenge that has existed since the first recovery of Denisovan DNA 15 years ago.
Original references: Science 389,704–707 (2025); Cell 188, 3919–3926 (2025)
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