Scientists have discovered a tooth believed to belong to the mysterious Denisovan Man in an unusual part of the world - in Laos. This is the first evidence that these ancient people lived in Southeast Asia, at a distance of 2850 kilometers from the famous Denisova cave, where their remains were first found, according to IFLScience..

In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, an international team of scientists describe the discovery of a molar in the recently discovered Tam Ngu Khao 2 cave in the Annamit Mountains of Laos..

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According to Mike Morley of Flinders University, scientists have found " The researchers were looking for traces of Homo Erectus and early modern Homo Sapiens, the remains of which have already been found here earlier.. But it turned out that they were dealing with the remains of a Denisovan.

A more detailed analysis showed that the tooth belongs to a girl who died at the age of 3.5-8.5 years.. Using several dating methods, scientists have found that the age of the tooth is 164-131 thousand years..

The genetic composition of the modern human population suggests that the Denisovans lived in Southeast Asia around this time, but no physical remains have yet been found to testify to this..

Denisovans and modern people have a common ancestor who lived on Earth about 500-700 thousand years ago. The “non-human” branch split approximately 470-380 thousand years ago into Denisovans and Neanderthals. About 200 thousand years ago, five types of people lived in the world: H. erectus, H. floresiensis, H. luzonensis, H. sapiens and denisovans.

The latest discovery, if confirmed that the tooth belongs to a Denisovan, sheds light on the existence of these mysterious ancient people.. Most importantly, it shows that the range of Denisovans in Eurasia was much wider than previously thought.. This also indicates that they were able to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions..

In the future, scientists intend to study the enamel of the found tooth using isotope analysis, which will allow them to reveal the details of the diet of the Denisovans who lived in Laos..

Earlier, scientists from Germany and Italy came to the conclusion that climate change prompted Neanderthals to start making more complex tools.. According to researchers, this is indicated by finds made in one of the caves of Lower Bavaria..