In 2010, scientists identified Denisovans, an archaic human lineage that went extinct around the same time as Neanderthals, using mitochondrial DNA extracted from a finger bone.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by original Nature (Krause et al. 2010) and Science (Reich et al. 2010) papers, plus corroborating science journalism. Well-established finding in paleogenetics.
Sources
- The biggest scientific breakthroughs of the last 25 years—and ... (nationalgeographic.com)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08976 (nature.com)
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1188021 (science.org)
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-mystery-of-the-denisovans-1596534/ (smithsonianmag.com)