Europe's Late Neanderthals descended from a single population, DNA analysis suggests
Why it matters: This study offers crucial insights into the genetic bottlenecks and population dynamics preceding Neanderthal extinction.
- Professor Cosimo Posth's team at the University of Tübingen led the international research, tracing the dramatic genetic history of European Neanderthals.
- New DNA data and archaeological evidence indicate a major population turnover, with Late Neanderthals showing little genetic diversity.
- One localized group survived a climate refuge 75,000 years ago, with their descendants spreading across Europe after 65,000 years ago, becoming the genetic ancestors of almost all Late Neanderthals.
- Posth and his team found a sharp population decline around 45,000 years ago, reaching a minimum around 42,000 years ago, just before extinction.
- Charoula Fotiadou from Posth's research group, and first author, highlighted the use of mitochondrial DNA from ten new Neanderthal individuals, combined with 49 previously published samples, for the study published in PNAS.
New DNA analysis reveals that Europe's Late Neanderthals, prior to their extinction, descended from a single population that survived a harsh period in a climate refuge in southwestern France. This localized group then repopulated Europe, only to face a rapid decline around 45,000 years ago, shortly before their complete disappearance.
