Scientists are continuing to make exciting discoveries that challenge current knowledge and understanding of humanity. Recently came the discovery of a new hominid species, now the completion of a rough draft of the neanderthal genome is raising more questions about our evolution, keeping scientists frothing at the mouth for the answers.
Though the neanderthals disappeared more than 30,000 years ago, the latest research concludes that they may still be alive, in some of our DNA. This comes as a surprise as the neanderthal was assumed to have become extinct, while the modern human ancestor continued to evolve.
Neanderthals walked the earth alongside the anatomically modern humans for a period of time in the regions of Europe and western Asia, from Siberia south to the Middle East. The two groups were always closely related, yet have slightly different genomes.
The team of scientists responsible for the discovery used a an extremely small amount of crushed neanderthal bone found in the Vindija Cave in Croatia. Amazingly, using only a pill-sized amount of the material, they could create a first look at the neanderthal’s DNA.
Through their findings, the scientists believe they may have proof that neanderthals, still with some ape-like features, crossbred with modern human ancestors. They also were able to discern more distinct factors that separate the two groups, providing clues as to why humans survived, and not neanderthals.
Because of this cross-mating, one to four percent of the human genome is shared with neanderthals. The only exception appears to be in the genome of Africans, which means there is a bit of neanderthal in many of us!
“This is a very powerful method for shining light … and finding these important changes that happen in a really crucial time in human evolutionary history,” said Richard E. Green, the lead author of the paper and an assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the Boston Globe.
As with most scientific discoveries, the data leads to more questions than answers. The new insights into human origin and identity, however, have the scientific community extremely excited to find out more.
Photo courtesy of the Neanderthal Fund via Wikipedia.