German, Estonian, British and American scientists have named the timing of the crossing of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. The corresponding study was published in the journal Nature Communications, briefly reported by Science News.
Experts believe that the two types of people began to interbreed from 220 to 470 thousand years ago. Scientists came to this conclusion after analyzing the remains of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a Neanderthal man who lived about 124 thousand years ago near the Holenstein-Stadel cave near the city of Ulm (Germany).
The remains of a Neanderthal man were discovered back in 1937, but only to date has it been possible to decipher the mtDNA they contain. It turned out that it is similar to that in humans, while in the more ancient Neanderthals, the DNA in the mitochondria is similar to the mtDNA of the Denisovan man.
The latter is transmitted only through the maternal line. At present, about three percent of the DNA of modern Homo sapiens, with the exception of the indigenous inhabitants of Africa, comes from Neanderthals. Neanderthals and Denisovans are extinct species (or subspecies) of humans.