Neanderthals Did Not Disappear: They Still Live in Modern Human Genes
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal traces declined sharply across Europe and western Asia. Textbooks turned that event into one clean sentence: Homo sapiens arrived, Neanderthals lost, and the species became extinct. DNA makes that story impossible to keep in its simple form. People with ancestry outside Africa usually carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA. Some populations also carry Denisovan DNA, from an ancient grou
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal traces declined sharply across Europe and western Asia. Textbooks turned that event into one clean sentence: Homo sapiens arrived, Neanderthals lost, and the species became extinct. DNA makes that story impossible to keep in its simple form. People with ancestry outside Africa usually carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA. Some populations also carry Denisovan DNA, from an ancient group first identified from only a few bones and teeth.
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal traces declined sharply across Europe and western Asia. Textbooks turned that event into one clean sentence: Homo sapiens arrived, Neanderthals lost, and the species became extinct. DNA makes that story impossible to keep in its simple form. People with ancestry outside Africa usually carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA. Some populations also carry Denisovan DNA, from an ancient grou
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal traces declined sharply across Europe and western Asia. Textbooks turned that event into one clean sentence: Homo sapiens arrived, Neanderthals lost, and the species became extinct. DNA makes that story impossible to keep in its simple form. People with ancestry outside Africa usually carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA. Some populations also carry Denisovan DNA, from an ancient grou
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal traces declined sharply across Europe and western Asia. Textbooks turned that event into one clean sentence: Homo sapiens arrived, Neanderthals lost, and the species became extinct. DNA makes that story impossible to keep in its simple form. People with ancestry outside Africa usually carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA. Some populations also carry Denisovan DNA, from an ancient grou
Around 40,000 years ago, Neanderthal traces declined sharply across Europe and western Asia. Textbooks turned that event into one clean sentence: Homo sapiens arrived, Neanderthals lost, and the species became extinct. DNA makes that story impossible to keep in its simple form. People with ancestry outside Africa usually carry about 1–4% Neanderthal DNA. Some populations also carry Denisovan DNA, from an ancient grou