Scientists Sequenced the DNA of the ‘Last Neanderthal’-and It Alters Human History
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- In 2015, paleoanthropologist Ludovic Slimak and his team discovered jaw remains of a roughly 42,000-year-old Neanderthal, named "Thorin," in the Grotte Mandrin cave in France's Rhône Valley.
- Over several years, more fragments of Thorin's remains were found, and genome analysis revealed that this Neanderthal lineage remained genetically isolated from other Neanderthal groups and modern humans despite geographic proximity.
- Thorin's population exhibited high genetic homozygosity, indicating inbreeding and no evidence of gene flow with neighboring Neanderthal groups or Homo sapiens for about 50,000 years.
- Slimak's earlier hypothesis based on stone tool differences in the Rhône Valley was confirmed, suggesting a distinct Neanderthal population that lived in long-term isolation.
- This discovery challenges existing views on Neanderthal extinction and human evolution, prompting a reevaluation of how isolated populations could survive near each other without interbreeding.
