[4] Genomic sequencing and analysis led by paleo-geneticists Viviane Slon and Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology revealed that Denny was the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.

[4] In 2015, Tom Higham and Katerina Douka[8] decided to try and apply new scientific methods to see whether they could be used to find human remains amongst the thousands of unidentified bone samples in the site.

With the collaboration of the head excavators of the Denisova site; Michael Shunkov and Anatoly Derevianko, they took several bags containing thousands of unidentified bone fragments back to the University of Oxford.

[4][9][10] A micro-computed tomography (Micro CT) scan of the bone done by Fiona Brock at Cranfield University helped to reveal that the specimen had acid etching and pitting on its surface indicating it may have passed through the digestion system of an animal, likely a hyena.

[11] According to population geneticist Pontus Skoglund from Harvard Medical School, currently at the Francis Crick Institute in London, "To find a first-generation person of mixed ancestry from [Neanderthal and Denisovan groups] is absolutely extraordinary.

[4] In 2016, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led by paleogeneticists Viviane Slon and Svante Pääbo, extracted six DNA samples and produced ten libraries of complete genome sequences to an average coverage of 2.6-fold.

[9] Denny represents the first ancient individual discovered whose parents belonged to two discrete species of humans, which will provide a unique opportunity for future comparative genetic studies.

[1][2] The discovery of Denny and other paleogenetic data acquired since 2010 show that human evolution should not be conceptualized as a simple linear or branched progression, but rather, as a complex interaction between related species over various periods of geographical isolation and convergence.

[20] In January 2019, scientists published a chronology for the Pleistocene deposits in the Denisova Cave concluding that at least two groups of humans, including Denisovans, Neanderthals, and related hybrids, occupied the Siberian site from around 300,000 to 20,000 years ago, but more material evidence is needed to prove whether they ever coexisted there.

[21][22] Material data collected at the site, including stone tools, bracelets, and other ornaments suggest that Denisovans may have been capable of higher order thought akin to modern humans.