FRIDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News) — Genetic research from Canadian scientists confirms early modern humans interbred with Neanderthals.
An international team of researchers found that some of the human X chromosome can be traced to Neanderthals and is found in non-Africans everywhere.
Neanderthals are thought to have lived until about 30,000 years ago in what is now France, Spain, Germany and Russia. Their ancestors however, left Africa long before that — about 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. Meanwhile, early modern humans left Africa between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago.
Although Neanderthals were physically more powerful than early modern humans, they possessed the gene for language and may have even played the flute. Now, researchers confirmed what experts have long considered: the two species actually interbred. The researchers pointed out this probably happened early on at the crossroads of the Middle East.
About 10 years ago, researchers identified a piece of DNA (called a haplotype) in the human X chromosome that appeared unusual.
By 2010, when the Neanderthal genome was sequenced, the researchers compared 6,000 chromosomes from all parts of the world to the Neanderthal haplotype.** The Neanderthal sequence was present in peoples across all continents, except for sub-Saharan Africa, and including Australia.**
“There is little doubt that this haplotype is present because of mating with our ancestors and Neanderthals. This is a very nice result, and further analysis may help determine more details,” human ancestry researcher Dr. Nick Patterson, of the Broad Institute of MIT at Harvard University said in a news release from the University of Montreal.
The study’s authors noted the close association with Neanderthals probably helped early modern human survival around the world. “Variability is very important for long-term survival of a species,” researcher Damian Labuda, of the University of Montreal, said in the news release. “Every addition to the genome can be enriching.”
The study was published in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution.
This claim is interesting that all non-Africans are part Neanderthals.
Does it mean that Africans are more human than non-Africans? Or does it mean that Africans are less human, and that being "human" means a hybrid of African/Neanderthal?
White supremists are having a field day with this discovery. They seem to have found the answer as to why they are white.
Melanesian people are found to have some percentage of their DNA common with another type of hominid: the Denisovans.
The Denisova hominin (/dɨˈniːsəvə/) is the remains (a finger bone and tooth) of a member of the genus Homo that may belong to a previously unknown species based on an analysis of theirmitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In March 2010, discovery was announced of a finger bone fragment of a juvenile that lived about 41,000 years ago found in Denisova Cave (Altai Krai, Russia), a region also inhabited at about the same time by Neanderthals and modern humans.[SUP][1]](Denisovan - Wikipedia)[/SUP][SUP][2]](Denisovan - Wikipedia)[/SUP] The mtDNA of the Denisova hominin is distinct from the mtDNAs of Neanderthals and modern humans.[SUP][3]](Denisovan - Wikipedia)[/SUP] InDecember 2010, an international team of scientists determined the sequence from the nuclear genome of this group (known as the Denisovans) from this finger bone. According to their analysis, this group shares a common origin with the Neanderthals and **interbred with the ancestors of modern Melanesians
In addition to genetic studies linking approximately 4% of non-African modern human DNA to Neanderthals, these tests comparing the Denisova hominin genome with those of six modern humans whose genome has been sequenced, a ǃKung from South Africa, a Nigerian, a French person, a Papua New Guinean, a Bougainville Islander and a Han Chinese showed that between 4% and 6% of thegenome of Melanesians (represented by the Papua New Guinean and Bougainville Islander) derives from a Denisovan population**, possibly introduced during the early migration of the ancestors of Melanesians into Southeast Asia. This history of interaction suggests that Denisovans once ranged widely over eastern Asia.[SUP][5][/SUP]
This claim is interesting that all non-Africans are part Neanderthals.
Does it mean that Africans are more human than non-Africans? Or does it mean that Africans are less human, and that being "human" means a hybrid of African/Neanderthal?
White supremists are having a field day with this discovery. They seem to have found the answer as to why they are white.
Yea, I wonder what this discovery is supposed to mean? Neanderthals are not even homo sapiens (humans) right? Doesn't it just mean some homo sapiens (non-African) decided to interbreed with Neanderthals? Making them less human. I would love to read the actual scientific journal article.