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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.An ancient jawbone discovered in Taiwan belonged to an enigmatic group of

called Denisovans, scientists reported Thursday.Relatively little is known about Denisovans, an extinct group ofthat interacted with

and our own species, Homo sapiens.are very scarce,” with only a few confirmed finds in East Asia, said study co-author Takumi Tsutaya at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan.

So far, the only known

fossils include partial jawbones, a few teeth and part of a finger bone found in caves in Siberia and Tibet. Some scientists believe fossils found in a cave in Laos may also belong to Denisovans.Margarita Salazar, 82, wipes the sweat off with a tissue inside her home amid high heat in Veracruz, Mexico, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Margarita Salazar, 82, wipes the sweat off with a tissue inside her home amid high heat in Veracruz, Mexico, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)Pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they gather outside Nimrah Mosque to offer noon prayers in Arafat, during the annual Hajj, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Pilgrims use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun as they gather outside Nimrah Mosque to offer noon prayers in Arafat, during the annual Hajj, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)A patient suffering from heatstroke receives treatment at a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)