Denisovans were first identified in 2010 from DNA extracted from an ancient finger bone found in Denisova Cave, Siberia.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by original peer-reviewed Nature papers (Krause et al. 2010; Reich et al. 2010) and multiple independent secondary sources including Britannica and Wikipedia. Minor nuance that the bone was excavated in 2008 but genetically identified/announced in 2010 does not contradict the claim.
Sources
- Scientists Find a Trove of Denisovan Fossils and Tools in Southwest ... (smithsonianmag.com)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08976 (nature.com)
- https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/the-denisovans/ (australian.museum)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09710 (nature.com)
- https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/09/science/china-denisovan-fossil-discovery (cnn.com)
- https://leakeyfoundation.org/new-studies-denisova-cave/ (leakeyfoundation.org)