Topic ID #13830 - posted 9/14/2011 6:17 AM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Human-Neanderthal coupling was rare: study
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Human-Neanderthal coupling was rare: study
September 12, 2011
Scientists have shown that modern humans have some traces of genes from Neanderthals, but a study out Monday suggests that any breeding between the two was most likely a rare event.
The new computational model, based on DNA samples from modern humans in France and China, shows successful coupling happened at a rate of less than two percent.
The research suggests that either inter-species sex was very taboo, or that the hybrid offspring had trouble surviving, according to the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There may have been "extremely strong barriers to gene flow between the two species because of a very low fitness of human-Neanderthal hybrids, a very strong avoidance of interspecific mating, or a combination," said the study by researchers at the University of Geneva and the University of Berne in Switzerland.
Read more here.
September 12, 2011
Scientists have shown that modern humans have some traces of genes from Neanderthals, but a study out Monday suggests that any breeding between the two was most likely a rare event.
The new computational model, based on DNA samples from modern humans in France and China, shows successful coupling happened at a rate of less than two percent.
The research suggests that either inter-species sex was very taboo, or that the hybrid offspring had trouble surviving, according to the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
There may have been "extremely strong barriers to gene flow between the two species because of a very low fitness of human-Neanderthal hybrids, a very strong avoidance of interspecific mating, or a combination," said the study by researchers at the University of Geneva and the University of Berne in Switzerland.
Read more here.
Post ID#19015 - replied 9/15/2011 8:31 PM
marehart
5% HSN DNA would tend to mitigate against this study. John Hawks has a good post on this.
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