Paleogeneticists have presumably identified a new species of yak that existed in the Altai region during the Pleistocene epoch. Researchers who worked with remains extracted primarily from Denisova Cave determined that some bones belonged to large horned animals. The evolutionary branch of these animals separated from the ancestors of modern yaks about 400 thousand years ago.
Furthermore, there is a possibility that some of the found bones may belong to fossil Baikal yaks, which were previously described solely based on their external appearance (morphology).
This scientific discovery was reported in a publication placed in the journal Current Biology.