Space Daily September 11, 2026 • 09:30

Modern humans interbred with Neanderthals before they disappeared, and most people of non-African ancestry still carry roughly 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA today — meaning part of the human population we once thought we simply replaced never actu - Space Daily

Modern humans interbred with Neanderthals before they disappeared, and most people of non-African ancestry still carry roughly 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA today — meaning part of the human population we once thought we simply replaced never actu - Space Daily

The fossil record suggested modern humans simply wiped out their evolutionary cousins, but genetic evidence now reveals a messier, more intimate history of coexistence and interbreeding.

A man who died in a Romanian cave about 40,000 years ago carried more Neanderthal DNA than any other human ever sequenced, ancient or modern. His jawbone turned up in Petera cu Oase, and when genetic… [+5419 chars]

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