More evidence is showing that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals are more closely related than once thought. A new estimate suggests that our species may have diverged from Neanderthals just 408,000 years ago, which is “substantially later” than previous estimates.
However, mounting evidence is showing that we are not so dissimilar from our heavy-browed hominin cousins. Neanderthals
Researchers have long debated when the last common ancestors between Neanderthals and humans lived, marking the point where the two different species went their separate ways on their evolutionary journey.
Statisticians at Tel-Aviv University recently used computer software called BEAST2 to study the genome of both species and work out the TMRCA (Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor). Their findings indicate that the split between modern humans and Neanderthals occurred just 408,000 years ago – which is surprisingly late.
This latest estimate from Tel-Aviv University is highly mathematical and didn’t directly involve any archaeologists or paleoanthropologists. Nevertheless, it’s broadly in line with other recent studies that have hinted the divergence occurred much later than previously assumed.
Other recent evidence from both fossils and DNA
Whenever the split occurred, the presence of Neanderthals didn’t stray far from us. Genetically, we’re 99.7 percent identical and it is
Genes from Neanderthals are especially prevalent in people of European descent who
The new study is published in the journal