Bianfu Cave yielded two skull fragments, four teeth, and part of a forearm bone from at least four Denisovan individuals who lived between 134,000 and 167,000 years ago.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by the original Nature paper and multiple independent science news outlets (National Geographic, CNN, Live Science, ZME Science, Science News, Archaeology Magazine). Minor discrepancy exists between sources citing 'at least three' vs 'at least four' individuals, but the 'four individuals' figure is well-supported by several sources including the primary reporting chain. [cascade flags: aggregator_dropped_primary_exists | tier=silver indep_score=0.917 clusters=6 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=single on Two companion papers published in Nature on September 9, 2026 describing Bianfu Cave excavation, protein/ZooMS analysis, and dating (upstreams: Nature (Rao et al. 2026), Nature (companion paleoanthropology study)) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- Scientists Find a Trove of Denisovan Fossils and Tools in Southwest ... (seed:science_and_space)
- https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/09/science/china-denisovan-fossil-discovery (corroboration)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10997-4 (corroboration)
- https://www.zmescience.com/science/anthropology/first-denisovan-arm-bone/ (corroboration)
- https://archaeology.org/news/2026/09/14/denisovan-fossils-and-possible-tools-uncovered-in-china/ (corroboration)
- https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-fossils-denisovan-secrets-china (corroboration)
- https://www.archyde.com/denisovan-fossils-and-artifacts-uncovered-in-china/ (corroboration)