Neanderthals May Have Been Extinct, Not War, But Sex

A new study by paleoanthropologists indicates that Neanderthals, our closest relatives on the tree of life, may have gone extinct because of their gender rather than conflict with our species.

The results were published in a paper published in the scientific journal PaleoAnthropology.

According to the researchers, this group of hominids began to mate more and more. homo sapiensharms the reproduction of its own lineage. Over time, they began to disappear.

In evolutionary history, we and Neanderthals split 600,000 years ago. While our ancestors lived in Africa, our distant cousins ​​traveled to Europe and Asia, where they set up settlements.

It would take 400,000 years for us to meet again. H. sapiens eventually they broke the camp and began to explore other continents. New fossil evidence found in caves in Greece shows this.

From these encounters, the scientists suggest, mating between these species must have begun. But whether these relationships produce truly healthy people remains a mystery.

breeding with another species

It has been known that we carry Neanderthal genes in our DNA since we sequenced the human genome, but this evidence is insufficient because there are other indications to the contrary.

Our mitochondria, for example, are uniquely sapiens. On the other hand, none of the currently sequenced Neanderthal genomes have found any traces of our genes – meaning there have only been 32 to date.

One possible explanation is that when Neanderthal sperm fertilized sapiens eggs, this mating only worked in one direction. This happens to other creatures even today, and explains some of this evidence.

What is certain is that as the DNA sequence of fossils of Neanderthals and other hominids becomes more and more abundant, the history of our species is becoming clearer every day, and we are perhaps closer than ever to knowing the answers to these and other questions.