An extinct group of humans that were once widespread in Asia don’t have an official species name – part of the reason is archaeological, and part is a legal question
By Michael Marshall
12 August 2025
Illustration of an ancient Denisovan man
JOHN BAVARO FINE ART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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One of the things I try to do in Our Human Story is answer the most commonly asked questions about human evolution. Back in February 2021, I tried to explain something that bugs a lot of people: how Neanderthals and modern humans could interbreed if they were separate species. (Short answer: the boundaries between species are fuzzy).
This month we’re going to tackle another perennial source of confusion. Why don’t the Denisovans, an extinct human group that was once widespread in Asia, have a species name? And what should their name be, if they ever get one?
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We finally know what the face of a Denisovan looked like
The question of what the Denisovans’ “official” name should be has been rumbling on ever since they were discovered in 2010. It came up again in June, when a major discovery was announced. A skull from Harbin in North China, dubbed the Dragon Man, had been identified as a Denisovan using molecular evidence. We had never had a Denisovan skull before, so this was the first time we had a good idea of what their faces were like.
When I went on New Scientist’s podcast The World, the Universe and Everything to talk about the find, host Rowan Hooper asked me why the Denisovans don’t have a species name. Why can’t we call them Homo denisovanensis or something, the way we call Neanderthals Homo neanderthalensis?