The word ‘Denisovan’ is sometimes mentioned in media in reference to

The correct answer is B. Denisovans were an archaic human species, closely related to Neanderthals, not a dinosaur, cave or time period. The name comes from Denisova Cave in the Altai mountains of Siberia, where a finger bone fragment and a few teeth were found. The species was identified in 2010 mainly through ancient DNA, before a complete skull was matched to it, which makes it unusual among human ancestors.

Why the other options fail:

• A is wrong because dinosaur fossils have nothing to do with hominin genetics. Denisovans lived within the last few hundred thousand years.
• C is wrong because the cave that gave the name is in Siberia, not North-East India.
• D is wrong because geological periods follow the geological time scale (such as Pleistocene or Holocene), and Denisovan is not one of them.

The concept links to human evolution and migration, and to the Mains theme of how genetic science is reshaping our understanding of the past. Denisovan DNA survives in present-day Melanesians and Papuans, and a Denisovan-derived gene variant helps some Tibetans live at high altitude.

Trap: Students who recall the word from news reports, see that it sounds like a place name, and pick C because the cave gives it its name.