Who Were the Denisovans, Ancestors of Modern Humans?

Pieces of bones in a cave in the Tibetan highlands have given researchers new evidence of the mysterious human ancestors known as Denisovans.
在西藏高原的一个洞穴中发现的骨头碎片为研究人员提供了有关神秘的人类祖先——丹尼索瓦人的新证据。

International researchers examined more than 2,500 bones found inside Baishiya Karst Cave. Most of the bones were from animals hunted by the Denisovans. The scientists studied proteins found in the bones to learn more about the Denisovans and the animals they depended on for food.
国际研究人员检查了在白石崖溶洞中发现的2500多块骨头。大多数骨头来自丹尼索瓦人猎捕的动物。科学家们研究了骨头中发现的蛋白质，以更多地了解丹尼索瓦人及其依赖的食物来源。

Baishiya Karst Cave is at a high altitude, or height above sea level, of 3,280 meters in the Tibetan Plateau.
白石崖溶洞位于海拔3280米的西藏高原。

The researchers discovered that the Denisovans hunted many different kinds of animals for food including sheep and a large, hairy animal called a woolly rhinoceros. The scientists published their findings this month in Nature.
研究人员发现，丹尼索瓦人捕猎了许多不同种类的动物作为食物，包括绵羊和一种叫做披毛犀的大型多毛动物。科学家们本月在《自然》杂志上发表了他们的研究成果。

Most of the bones were identified as belonging to blue sheep that still live in the Himalayan Mountains. Other animals included the woolly rhinos, yaks, small mammals such as marmots, birds and the spotted hyena, a dog-like creature that lived in an area called the Ganjia Basin.
大多数骨头被鉴定为属于仍然生活在喜马拉雅山脉的岩羊。其他动物包括披毛犀、牦牛、小型哺乳动物如旱獭、鸟类和斑点鬣狗，这种狗状生物生活在一个叫做甘加盆地的地区。

In the cave containing animal bones, the researchers also discovered a rib bone from a Denisovan individual believed to be from 48,000 to 32,000 years old. That would make it the most recent Denisovan remains yet discovered.
在包含动物骨头的洞穴中，研究人员还发现了一块属于丹尼索瓦人个体的肋骨，据信其年龄在4.8万至3.2万年前。这将使其成为迄今发现的最新的丹尼索瓦人遗骸。

The researchers believe the Denisovans killed the animals for their meat. There was evidence found on the bones suggesting the cutting, or butchering, of meat and processing of animal skins. There was also evidence of animal bone tools.
研究人员认为丹尼索瓦人猎杀这些动物是为了获取肉食。骨头上发现的证据表明肉类被切割或屠宰，并处理了动物皮。还发现了动物骨制工具的证据。

Frido Welker,  molecular anthropologist with the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, was one of the leaders of the research. He said, “It is the first time we have gotten an understanding of the subsistence behaviors of Denisovans.” Welker added that these human ancestors were able to use “a wide range of animal resources.”
弗里多·韦尔克尔是丹麦哥本哈根大学的一名分子人类学家，也是该研究的领导者之一。他说：“这是我们第一次了解丹尼索瓦人的生存行为。”韦尔克尔补充说，这些人类祖先能够利用“广泛的动物资源”。

Dongju Zhang, an archeologist with Lanzhou University in China was another study leader. He said, “I think the diverse animal remains found in Baishiya Karst Cave suggest that this location offered relatively better resources compared with the neighboring higher Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese Loess Plateau to the north…”
中国兰州大学的考古学家张东菊是另一位研究负责人。他说：“我认为在白石崖溶洞发现的多样化动物遗骸表明，与西部更高的西藏高原和北部的中国黄土高原相比，这个位置提供了相对更好的资源……”

Scientists did not publish evidence of Denisovans until 2010, when research identified a bone that came from Denisova Cave in Russia’s Siberia area. Genetic examination showed that Denisovans were closely related to Neanderthals, other human ancestors who lived in Eurasia. Both groups are believed to have interacted a lot with Homo sapiens, or modern man, and are believed to have interbred with modern humans.
科学家直到2010年才公布丹尼索瓦人的证据，当时研究鉴定出一块来自俄罗斯西伯利亚地区丹尼索瓦洞穴的骨头。基因检查显示，丹尼索瓦人与尼安德特人有密切关系，尼安德特人是生活在欧亚大陆的其他人类祖先。据信这两组人与智人或现代人有很多互动，并且与现代人类有过杂交。

Welker said, “From genetics, we know they diverged from Neanderthals around 400,000 years ago.”
韦尔克尔说：“从遗传学上，我们知道他们大约在40万年前与尼安德特人分离。”

Denisovans are known only from remains found in three places. They are Denisova Cave, Cobra Cave in Laos and Baishiya Karst Cave in Tibet. The wide separation suggests they lived in many different areas.
丹尼索瓦人仅从三个地方的遗骸中得知。它们是丹尼索瓦洞、老挝的科布拉洞和西藏的白石崖溶洞。广泛的分布表明他们生活在许多不同的地区。

Zhang said their presence in such a wide area “implies that Denisovans had high flexibility to adapt to different environments.”
张说，他们在如此广泛的地区存在“意味着丹尼索瓦人具有高度的适应不同环境的灵活性”。

Another bone found in Baishiya Karst Cave is a lower jaw bone of a young Denisovan. It is believed to be 160,000 years old. The researchers said they thought the human ancestors lived there as early as 200,000 years ago. But the piece of rib suggests their presence was more recent.
在白石崖溶洞发现的另一块骨头是一个年轻丹尼索瓦人的下颚骨。据信其年龄为16万年。研究人员说，他们认为这些人类祖先早在20万年前就生活在那里。但这块肋骨表明他们的存在更为近期。

“We don’t know if the rib was from an adult or a child, nor its genetic sex,” said Welker. He added it was the first time a Denisovan rib has ever been discovered.
韦尔克尔说：“我们不知道这块肋骨是来自成人还是儿童，也不知道其基因性别。”他补充说，这是第一次发现丹尼索瓦人的肋骨。

Scientists say Homo sapiens did not populate the Tibetan Plateau until about 40,000 years ago and first appeared in Africa a little more than 300,000 years ago.
科学家们说，智人大约在4万年前才出现在西藏高原，并在30多万年前首次出现在非洲。

But what happened to the Denisovans seems to be a mystery.
但丹尼索瓦人到底发生了什么仍然是个谜。

“We know so little,” Welker noted, adding, “We know that Denisovans interbred with modern humans. We know that based on some Denisovan DNA that is present in the genomes of some modern humans living today.”
韦尔克尔指出：“我们知道的很少，”并补充说：“我们知道丹尼索瓦人与现代人类有过杂交。我们知道这是基于一些生活在今天的现代人类基因组中存在的丹尼索瓦人的DNA。”

He then said, “But when, where and why Denisovans ultimately went extinct, that we don’t know anything about.”
他接着说：“但是丹尼索瓦人最终何时、何地以及为什么灭绝，我们一无所知。”