Penghu 1

Fishermen found an old jaw in the sea. It was deep under the water. This jaw belonged to a man from long ago. He was a Denisovan.

He lived in a land of grass. Long ago, the sea was not there. The land was dry. Now, the water covers the ground.

The jaw has four teeth. Some teeth are worn down. The jaw is very strong. It does not have a chin.

Scientists studied the bone. They looked at the parts of the teeth. They also looked at the protein. This helped them know who he was.

It is a very special find from the sea.

Fishermen found a fossil jaw in the sea. It was in the Penghu Channel near Taiwan. The jaw was deep under the water. It was 60 to 120 meters down. Long ago, the sea level was lower. The area was once dry land with grass and rivers.

This jaw belongs to a male Denisovan. A Denisovan is a type of ancient human. Scientists used a study of proteins to be sure. Proteins are tiny parts found in living things.

The jaw is very strong and thick. It has four teeth. Some of the teeth are worn down. The jaw does not have a chin. This makes it look different from modern humans.

Many animals lived in this area long ago. Scientists found fossils of tigers and bears. They also found fossils of large elephants and wild horses. The jaw is now kept in a museum in Taichung. It helps us learn about the past.

Penghu 1 is a very special fossil. It is a jawbone from an ancient human relative. This bone belongs to the genus Homo. For a long time, scientists argued about what kind of human it was. They looked at the shape and the teeth to find clues. Now we know much more about this ancient traveler.

The jaw was found deep under the ocean waves. Fishermen caught it in the Penghu Channel near Taiwan. It was sitting 60 to 120 meters below the surface. The area was once dry land with grass and rivers. Sea levels rose after the last ice age. This submerged the land where the ancient humans lived.

Scientists studied the bone very closely to learn its story. It is a right lower jaw that is nearly complete. The jaw has four teeth, including worn molars and premolars. It is very thick and strong. The jaw lacks a clear chin, which makes it different from us. 3D models showed it had a wide base.

Finding out who owned the jaw took many years. In 2015, a team of scientists from Japan, Taiwan, and Australia described it. They looked at how it compared to other fossils. Some thought it was Homo erectus. Others thought it might be an early Homo sapiens. In 2025, a study of proteins finally gave us the answer.

We now know the jaw belonged to a male Denisovan. This is a group of ancient humans. Scientists compared it to the Xiahe mandible from the Tibetan Plateau. Both fossils have similar teeth and missing molars. The Penghu Channel was once a home for many animals. Tigers, bears, and large elephants lived there long ago.

Penghu 1 is a significant fossil mandible, which is a lower jawbone. It belongs to an extinct hominin species within the genus Homo. This specimen is a vital piece of evidence for understanding human evolution in Asia. For many years, researchers debated exactly which species the jaw belonged to. Recent scientific breakthroughs have finally helped clarify its true identity.

The fossil was discovered in the Penghu Channel near the coast of Taiwan. Fishermen recovered the bone sometime before 2008 while working in the channel. It was located between the Penghu Islands and mainland Taiwan. The jaw was found 60 to 120 meters below the ocean surface. At the time of discovery, it was about 25 kilometers off the western coast. This area was once part of the mainland before sea levels rose. During the last ice age, much water was locked in terrestrial ice. This caused sea levels to be much lower than they are today. As a result, the landscape that once held the fossil was submerged.

Physically, the specimen is a nearly complete right lower jaw. It contains four teeth, including worn premolars and molars. The mandible shows a high index of robustness, meaning it is very thick and strong. It also features a robust lateral torus, which is a bony ridge on the side. Using 3D reconstruction, scientists discovered a large bicondylar breadth. This refers to the width of the base of the jaw. The fossil also shows the alveoli, or tooth sockets, for four incisors and a right canine. These sockets show that the teeth were quite long.

Scientists used these physical traits to classify the bone within the genus Homo. The mandible has a receding anterior surface and lacks a pronounced chin. This lack of a chin helps distinguish it from Homo sapiens. However, the jaw is short and wide, which is a derived trait. This trait is similar to the features seen in early Homo habilis. There is also evidence of agenesis of the M3 molar. Agenesis means the third molar tooth failed to develop. These specific anatomical details provided the basis for its initial classification.

Determining the exact species of Penghu 1 has been a long scientific challenge. In 2015, an international team from Japan, Taiwan, and Australia described the fossil. Some researchers suggested it was similar to Hexian fossils of Homo erectus. They noted similarities in crown size and general robustness. Other scientists, such as Xinzhi Wu and Haowen Tong, suggested it might be an archaic Homo sapiens. In 2024, Wu and Bae proposed the new species name Homo juluensis. This name was based on connections to the Xujiayao hominin and the Xiahe mandible.

A major breakthrough occurred through comparison with the Xiahe mandible. The Xiahe specimen was found on the Tibetan Plateau and is roughly 160,000 years old. Both fossils share four distinct dental characteristics. First, their M2 molars have a similar mesiodistal width. Second, both show the agenesis of the M3 molar. Third, they share a unique M2 root structure related to modern Asian populations. Fourth, the P3 tooth displays Tomes' root, a rare feature in fossil hominins. In 2025, a proteomic analysis study confirmed these findings. Proteomic analysis examines the sequences of proteins within the remains. This study proved the mandible belonged to a male Denisovan.

The environment where this hominin lived was very different from today. During the Pleistocene era, the Taiwan Strait was exposed as dry land. This landscape was a mix of grasslands and river channels. These rivers likely formed an extension of the Min River from mainland Fujian. The area supported a wide variety of prehistoric animals. These included tigers, brown bears, and raccoon dogs. Large extinct animals like Palaeoloxodon huaihoensis elephants lived there too. Other animals included wild horses, buffaloes, and various types of deer. Even crocodiles and large turtles inhabited these ancient river systems.