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       Ancient Romanian Jawbone Sheds Light on Neanderthal Interbreeding

   by Reuters

   You may not know it, but you probably have some Neanderthal in you. For
   people around the world, except sub-Saharan Africans, about 1 to 3
   percent of their DNA comes from Neanderthals, our close cousins who
   disappeared roughly 39,000 years ago.

   Scientists said on Monday a jawbone unearthed in Romania, of a man who
   lived about 40,000 years ago, boasts the most Neanderthal ancestry ever
   seen in a member of our species.

   The finding that also indicates that interbreeding with Neanderthals
   occurred much more recently than previously known.

   ''"We show that one of the very first modern humans that is known from
   Europe had a Neanderthal ancestor just four to six generations back in
   his family tree," said geneticist [1]Svante Pääbo of Germany's Max
   Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

   "He carries more Neanderthal DNA than any other present-day or ancient
   modern human seen to date," he said.

   [2]Harvard Medical School geneticist David Reich said 6 to 9 percent of
   this individual's genome derived from a Neanderthal ancestor.

   The study, published in the journal Nature, indicates that our species
   interbred with Neanderthals in Europe as well, not just in the Middle
   East as previously thought, Pääbo said.

   Previous research suggested this interbreeding occurred 50,000 to
   60,000 years ago, before our species, arising in Africa, trekked into
   Europe, Asia and beyond.

   "Modern humans arrive in Europe after 43,000 years ago, and
   Neanderthals went extinct by 39,000 years ago," Reich said.

   The scientists said a Neanderthal was among the individual's ancestors
   as recently as perhaps 100 to 150 years. Reich said genetic analysis
   showed the individual, a hunter-gatherer, was from a "pioneer
   population" that entered Europe but did not contribute much or anything
   at all genetically to later Europeans.

   "This is interesting because it means that Europe has not been
   continuously occupied by the same lineages ever since the first waves
   of migration of modern humans into Europe," Reich said.

   The robust, large-browed Neanderthals prospered across Europe and Asia
   from about 350,000 years ago till shortly after 40,000 years ago,
   disappearing in the period after Homo sapiens arrived.

   Despite an outdated reputation as our dimwitted cousins, scientists say
   Neanderthals were highly intelligent, as shown by their complex hunting
   methods, likely use of spoken language and symbolic objects, and
   sophisticated use of fire.

   The lower jawbone was found in 2002 in Oase Cave in southwestern
   Romania.

   Previous attempts to extract DNA were unsuccessful but recent
   technological advances facilitated the new findings.
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   [3]http://www.voanews.com/content/ancient-romanian-jawbone-neanderthal-
   interbreeding/2833496.html

References

   1. http://www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/staff/paabo/home.html
   2. http://genetics.med.harvard.edu/reich/Reich_Lab/Welcome.html
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/ancient-romanian-jawbone-neanderthal-interbreeding/2833496.html