Modern humans have been interbreeding with Neanderthals for more than 200,000 years, an international team led by Josh Akey of Princeton University and Liming Li of Southeast University reports. Akey and Li identified an initial wave of contact around 200-250,000 years ago, another wave 100-120,000 years ago, and the largest one around 50-60,000 years ago. … Read more
Detection of modern human-to-Neanderthal gene flow (H→N) and its consequences. Modern human-to-Neanderthal admixture causes a local increase in heterozygosity in the Neanderthal genome, a feature that enabled approaches to quantify and detect introgressed sequences. We used modern human-introgressed sequences in the Neanderthal genome to refine estimates of Neanderthal ancestry in contemporary humans by decomposing IBDmix-detected … Read more
Neanderthals may not have actually gone extinct, but they may have been absorbed into modern human populations. That’s one implication of a new study, which shows that modern human DNA may make up 2.5% to 3.7% of the Neanderthal genome. “This research underscores that what we consider a distinct Neanderthal lineage was actually more closely … Read more
An innovative technique used in a study of Neanderthal hearths – places where fires started – has been described by researchers as a ‘major’ development in archaeology, one that could help shed light on the behavior of prehistoric people. For a study published in the journal Naturean interdisciplinary team of researchers has discovered that a … Read more
Neanderthal genes found in modern humans may have entered our DNA through an interval of interbreeding that began about 47,000 years ago and lasted nearly 7,000 years, new research shows. Neanderthals were among the most extinct relatives of modern humans (Homo sapiens), with the ancestors of both lineages diverging about 500,000 years ago. More than … Read more
Neanderthal genes found in modern humans may have entered our DNA through an interval of interbreeding that began about 47,000 years ago and lasted nearly 7,000 years, new research shows. Neanderthals were among the most extinct relatives of modern humans (Homo sapiens), with the ancestors of both lineages diverging about 500,000 years ago. More than … Read more
Corner down icon An icon in the shape of a corner pointing downwards. Humans have Neanderthal DNA as a result of interbreeding tens of thousands of years ago. Nikola Solic/Reuters Modern humans have a small amount of Neanderthal DNA, and those genes still influence our health. Scientists think they have figured out when the two … Read more
Neanderthals were our closest human relatives, and they had many similarities to anatomically modern humans. But could Neanderthals conversation? Several pieces of evidence suggest that this may be the case. But to answer this question, it is first important to distinguish between speech and language. Speech refers to the ability to verbal saying sounds and … Read more