• A new timeline for Neanderthal interbreeding with modern humans

    From Primum Sapienti@21:1/5 to All on Thu Dec 12 22:55:23 2024
    https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/12/12/a-new-timeline-for-neanderthal-interbreeding-with-modern-humans/

    A new analysis of DNA from ancient modern
    humans (Homo sapiens) in Europe and Asia
    has determined, more precisely than ever,
    the time period during which Neanderthals
    interbred with modern humans, starting about
    50,500 years ago and lasting about
    7,000 years — until Neanderthals began to
    disappear.

    That interbreeding left Eurasians with many
    genes inherited from our Neanderthal
    ancestors, which in total make up between
    1% and 2% of our genomes today.

    A more precise timeline for modern human
    interactions with Neanderthals can help
    scientists understand when humans
    emigrated out of Africa and peopled the
    globe, while understanding the DNA that
    Neanderthals shared with our ancestors
    provides information on the role Neanderthal
    genes play in human health.

    The genome-based estimate is consistent with
    archeological evidence that modern humans and
    Neanderthals lived side-by-side in Eurasia for
    between 6,000 and 7,000 years. The analysis,
    which involved present-day human genomes as
    well as 58 ancient genomes sequenced from DNA
    found in modern human bones from around Eurasia,
    found an average date for Neanderthal-Homo s
    apiens interbreeding of about 47,000 years ago.
    Previous estimates for the time of interbreeding
    ranged from 54,000 to 41,000 years ago.

    The new dates also imply that the initial
    migration of modern humans from Africa into
    Eurasia was basically over 43,500 years ago.
    ...


    https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq3010
    Neanderthal ancestry through time: Insights from
    genomes of ancient and present-day humans


    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08420-x
    Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing
    of Neanderthal admixture

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