Date: August 13th, 2026 5:27 AM
Author: Long PlayroomPoon Clown Conniption ( )
and they ate more meat!
https://www.science.org/content/article/denisovans-towered-over-their-contemporaries-and-munched-bunch-meat
The researchers successfully matched ancient protein sequences in the bones to the previously discovered Penghu mandible and Denisovan finger from Denisova Cave, confirming the leg bones as Denisovan and giving scientists a long-awaited look at the mysterious human’s stature. Based on the length of these bones, the authors estimate that the two Denisovan individuals towered at about 180 and 190 centimeters, respectively—much taller than most modern humans and Neanderthals around at the time.
The height of the Denisovans bucks the norm for archaic hominins, Hawks says. Neanderthal men averaged about 168 centimeters, women a bit shorter. In Homo sapiens, men average about 175 centimeters and women about 168 centimeters. So, although these Denisovans may have had to crane their necks to look down at most of their contemporaries, they weren’t giant “Yetis,” he notes.
Nitrogen isotopes within the tibia match what you’d expect from a highly carnivorous creature with a meat-dominated diet, similar to European Neanderthals. Curiously, the analysis also suggested the individual didn’t eat much fish or other seafood, harboring nitrogen isotopes derived exclusively from terrestrial herbivores, contrasting with H. sapiens that migrated into southeast Asia about 45,000 years ago. Although the data only come from a single individual, they could hint that Denisovans had a less flexible dietary range than newcomers from our own species.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5892651&forum_id=2.#50065041)