Nuclear DNA From Cave Sediments Helps Unlock Ancient Human History
For the first time, scientists have succeeded in extracting and analyzing Neandertal chromosomal DNA preserved in cave sediments. The field of ancient DNA has revealed…
Neanderthals
Oldest Modern Human Genome Reconstructed Using DNA From 45,000-Year-Old Skull
The fossil skull of a woman in Czechia has provided the oldest modern human genome yet reconstructed, representing a population that formed before the ancestors…
New Research Shows Neanderthals Had the Capacity to Perceive and Produce Human Speech
Neanderthals — the closest ancestor to modern humans — possessed the ability to perceive and produce human speech, according to a new study published by…
A Genetic Variant You May Have Inherited From Neanderthals Reduces the Risk of Severe COVID-19
DNA variants passed on to modern humans from Neanderthals can increase as well as decrease our ability to fight SARS-CoV-2, a new PNAS study finds….
Neanderthal Brain Organoids Show How a Single Gene Alteration May Have Separated Modern Humans From Predecessors
Novel study used brain organoids genetically modified to mimic now-extinct Neanderthals. As a professor of pediatrics and cellular and molecular medicine at University of California…
Archaeologists Discover Neanderthals and Homo sapiens Used Identical Nubian Technology
Long held in a private collection, the newly analyzed tooth of an approximately 9-year-old Neanderthal child marks the hominin’s southernmost known range. Analysis of the…
Analyzing Ancient DNA From 50,000-Year-Old Poop Reveals Secrets of Neanderthals’ Gut Microbiota
Neanderthals’ gut microbiota already included some beneficial micro-organisms that are also found in our own intestine. An international research group led by the University of…
Neanderthal Thumbs Were Better Adapted to Holding Tools With Handles
Neanderthal thumbs were better adapted to holding tools in the same way that we hold a hammer, according to a paper published in Scientific Reports. The…
Major Genetic Risk Factor for Severe COVID-19 Is Inherited From Neanderthals
A study published in Nature shows that a segment of DNA that causes their carriers to have an up to three times higher risk of…
48,000 Year-Old Baby Tooth Found – Belonged to One of the Last Neanderthals in Northern Italy
A milk-tooth (i.e. baby tooth) found in the vicinity of “Riparo del Broion” on the Berici Hills in the Veneto region bears evidence of one…
Tragic Genetic Heritage: The Ancient Neanderthal Hand in Severe COVID-19
Since first appearing in late 2019, the novel virus, SARS-CoV-2, has had a range of impacts on those it infects. Some people become severely ill…
Neanderthal and Denisovan Y Chromosomes Sequenced – Surprise When Compared to Modern Human DNA
Neanderthals have adopted male sex chromosome from modern humans. In 1997, the very first Neanderthal DNA sequence — just a small part of the mitochondrial…
Understanding Human Evolution: Neanderthal DNA Contributes to Genetic Diversity
The advent of DNA sequencing has given scientists a clearer insight into the interconnectedness of evolution and the web-like path that different organisms take, splitting…
Neanderthals Had a Lower Threshold for Pain – And You May Have Inherited It
People who inherited a special ion channel from Neanderthals experience more pain. As several Neanderthal genomes of high quality are now available researchers can identify…
It Was NOT Climate Change That Caused Neanderthal Extinction
Homo Neanderthaliensis did not become extinct because of changes in climate. At least, this did not happen to the several Neanderthals groups that lived in…
Analysis of Ancient Bone Tools Shows Neanderthals Were Quite Sophisticated
Evidence continues to mount that the Neanderthals, who lived in Europe and Asia until about 40,000 years ago, were more sophisticated people than once thought….
Icelandic DNA Jigsaw-Puzzle Puts Together New Image of Neanderthals
An international team of researchers has put together a new image of Neanderthals based on the genes Neanderthals left in the DNA of modern humans…
50,000 Year-Old String Shows Neanderthals Were Technologically Advanced
The discovery of the oldest known direct evidence of fiber technology — using natural fibers to create yarn — is reported in Scientific Reports this…