Oldest hominin DNA sequenced

Using novel techniques to extract and study ancient DNA researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have determined an almost complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a 400,000-year-old ...

Draft version of the Neanderthal genome completed

In a development which could reveal the links between modern humans and their prehistoric cousins, scientists said Thursday they have mapped a first draft of the Neanderthal genome. Researchers used DNA fragments extracted ...

Neandertals had older mothers and younger fathers

When the ancestors of modern humans left Africa 50,000 years ago they met the Neandertals. In this encounter, the Neandertal population contributed around two percent of the genome to present day non-African populations. ...

German researchers publish full Neanderthal genome

(Phys.org) —The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, hascompleted the genome sequence of a Neandertal and makes the entire sequence available to the scientific community today.

Dating encounters between modern humans and Neandertals

To discover why Neandertals are most closely related to people outside Africa, Harvard and Max Planck Institute scientists have estimated the date when Neandertals and modern Europeans last shared ancestors. The research, ...

Shared genes with Neanderthal relatives not unusual

During human evolution our ancestors mated with Neanderthals, but also with other related hominids. In this week's online edition of PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), researchers from Uppsala University ...