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
Well-documented in peer-reviewed literature (Nature 2010) and corroborated by multiple independent sources including university press releases and expert commentary.
Sources
- The biggest scientific breakthroughs of the last 25 years—and ... (nationalgeographic.com)
- https://news.ucsc.edu/2010/12/denisovans/ (news.ucsc.edu)
- https://www.johnhawks.net/p/a-mysterious-mitochondrial-sequence-from-denisova-cave-russia (johnhawks.net)
- https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/article/mapping-chronology-denisova-cave-only-archaeological-site-world-where-we-know-different (arch.ox.ac.uk)