The discovery was made at Denisova Cave, a site famous for revealing evidence of an extinct human lineage called the Denisovans.
Scientists have identified a previously unknown Ice Age mammal closely related to modern yaks by analysing ancient DNA recovered from tiny bone fragments in Siberia.
The breakthrough came from genetic analysis. Dalén is a senior author of the study published in the journal Current Biology. The lineage eventually disappeared, although scientists cannot establish the precise circumstances of its extinction.
Scientists generated 20 ancient genomes and found that the animal belonged to a distinct bovine lineage that began diverging from the ancestors of modern yaks around 400,000 years ago. Because the available bones do not provide enough anatomical evidence to establish its identity through conventional classification, they have not assigned it a formal scientific name.
The researchers have provisionally called the animal “Yak X”. “It is unusual, especially to recognize a large mammal species from small, unidentifiable fragments,” evolutionary geneticist Love Dalén told Reuters. The genetic evidence also suggests that Yak X experienced a population decline during the Ice Age, according to a study published in Current Biology. The Centre for Palaeogenetics research team said the discovery adds to evidence that the Altai region was home to a wide diversity of mammals and ancient human relatives.
