UPSC Prelims 2019 GS Paper I · Q92 of 100 General Science easy

The word 'Denisovan' is sometimes mentioned in media in reference to

  1. (a) fossils of a kind of dinosaurs
  2. (b) an early human species ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) a cave system found in North-East India
  4. (d) a geological period in the history of Indian subcontinent

Why the answer is (b)

• Denisovans are an extinct group of archaic humans identified in 2010 from DNA in a finger bone found in Denisova Cave, Siberia — option (b).

• They lived alongside Neanderthals and modern humans and interbred with both; Denisovan DNA survives in Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians and, in smaller traces, South Asians, and includes a gene helping Tibetans live at altitude.

• They are not dinosaurs (a), a cave in India (c) or a geological period (d).

• Hence option (b).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) fossils of a kind of dinosaurs
Denisovans are hominins, not dinosaurs.
(c) a cave system found in North-East India
Denisova Cave is in Siberia, not North-East India.
(d) a geological period in the history of Indian subcontinent
It is not a geological period.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2019, held on 2 June 2019. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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