The mysterious Neanderthals, whose remains are found by archaeologists in Europe and Asia, have disappeared without a trace, giving rise to many mysteries. Cavemen have long been considered the ancestors of modern humans, but recent studies by geneticists have refuted this thesis. And yet, the current inhabitants of our planet have partially inherited some traits from the Neanderthals. What peoples are more likely to have their genes?
What are they?
The earliest known fossil remains of Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) indicate that they lived in Europe about 500-600 thousand years ago. So not only Africa can be considered the cradle of humanity.
Renowned researcher Svante Paabo, professor at the Leipzig Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in 2009 informed the scientific community about the successful decoding of the Neanderthal genome.
Scientists have found that these were relatively tall people with a powerful skeleton and muscles. The MC1R gene, which is responsible for the pigmentation of human skin and hair, suggests that Neanderthals had fair skin and predominantly red hair.
In Europe, they inhabited: Germany, France, Italy, Greece, the Crimean peninsula and the foothills of the Caucasus. Cave sites have also been found in Altai, Central Asia and the Middle East.
The Neanderthals became extinct about 40 thousand years ago, when the Cro-Magnons entered the world evolutionary stage. That is, our ancestors, who originated in Africa and subsequently settled around the world.
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Neighbors on the planet
In 1997, a group of researchers from the University of Munich was able to compare the mitochondrial DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals. The result surprised scientists, who had previously believed that there must be a direct relationship between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. However, it turned out that our species were only neighbors on the planet for a while.
After analyzing the Y-chromosome, geneticists determined that the human race split into two evolutionary branches about 588 thousand years ago.
The two species met when the first black Cro-Magnons left Africa in search of better habitats. Our ancestors, who migrated to the Middle East and Europe, encountered light-skinned Neanderthals. No one has exact information about what kind of relationship developed between really different people. It can be assumed that the neighborhood, which lasted several thousand years, was replete with bloody skirmishes and carnages.
In Cro-Magnon sites, archaeologists have found necklaces made from the teeth of Neanderthals, as well as their gnawed bones. However, the neighbors of our ancestors did not refuse human meat, apparently due to a lack of other prey.
Everyone except Africans
The aforementioned Professor Svante Paabo and his colleague, Dr. David Reich from Harvard University, after joint research, stated that all inhabitants of our planet, except for indigenous Africans, are carriers of the Neanderthal genome. Moreover, the share of the heritage of Homo neanderthalensis in the DNA of modern people varies from 1 to 4 percent.
Obviously, the two different species were not only at enmity with each other. If there were enough resources for survival, then between our ancestors and their neighbors, cultural and business cooperation could well arise, developing into family ties. There was a grain of reason in this. Cro-Magnons, who moved north from Africa, needed the genes of people who adapted to life in other climatic conditions.
It is noteworthy that Neanderthal borrowings are sometimes found in the DNA of the inhabitants of the Black Continent. For example, scientists have found them in some representatives of the Maasai tribe. However, upon closer analysis, it turned out that Africans inherited these genes from Europeans who visited the tribal lands in the 17th-19th centuries and entered into promiscuous intercourse with local women.
Europeans and Asians
Researchers have discovered Neanderthal genes in people from different countries and continents. Italians, Spaniards, European Americans, British, Scots, Finns, Chinese, Japanese, even the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Guinea have such a legacy. Moreover, among Asians, the proportion of Neanderthal genes is even slightly higher than among Europeans.
Scientists explain this by the fact that over several millennia, Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis have experienced three mixing waves. First, the two species met in the Middle East, then migratory flows again brought our ancestors together with "other people" in Europe. And the last time Neanderthals shared their genes with Cro-Magnons was shortly before their extinction. And this happened in Asia, presumably in the Altai region, where part of Homo sapiens moved from the west.
The fact of mixing the two species is also confirmed by archaeologists. So, in the north of Italy, in the town of Riparo di Mezzena, during excavations, the remains of a man who lived about 30-40 thousand years ago were discovered. Based on the surviving bones, he was a hybrid of Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
The burial of a child, combining Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal features, was also found in the Crimea, in the area with. Staroselie. In particular, the structure of the dental canals in the deceased baby turned out to be typical for our former neighbors on the planet.
And in 2002, in Peshtera cu Oas (Romania), archaeologists unearthed the bone of a man who lived about 40 thousand years ago. The proportion of Neanderthal genes in his DNA ranged from 6 to 9 percent. That is, this individual had one ancestor "from outsiders" generations 4-6 ago.
What about us?
As for the inhabitants of Russia, the international team of geneticists, which is engaged in research in this area, has not yet shown interest in analyzing the DNA of our compatriots. There are no reliable results of scientific research on this score. But the contribution of Neanderthals to the heritage of Russians, in principle, cannot differ much from the indicators common for Europe and Asia, determined by scientists.
Orynganym Tanatarova