Many people living today have a small part of Neanderthal DNA in their genes, suggesting an important role in the evolution of our species. Our species' history resembles more a network or braided stream than a tree, according to paleogenetic evidence. It's clear that the origin of humankind was more complicated than thought.
Multiple lines of evidence are needed to investigate the impact of this type of hybridization. Scientists need to know if a hybrid is from their skeletons. Understanding our past and what makes us human is important. The Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment at the University of Tbingen, Germany, and the Human Evolution Research Institute at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, have collaborated to investigate the impact of hybridization. Their work has appeared in a journal.
The data needs to be carefully analyzed.
The researchers looked at a large number of fossil remains from the Upper Paleolithic of Europe. A small part of Neanderthal ancestry can be seen in several of these individuals' genes. Neanderthals and early modern humans were compared with their skull bones.
The researchers looked at three parts of the skull for signs of hybridization. Neanderthals or modern humans may include dental abnormality or unusual sizes. The features we see in mammals and primates are called hybrid features. They found that signals of hybridization were present in braincases and jaws, but not in faces.
The percentage of Neanderthal ancestry was considered when the researchers looked at the skeletons of people with known genetics. The researchers say that the presence of particular genetic variant is more important than the total amount of Neanderthal ancestry.
The Middle East is well-known to be a region of contact for the groups but also beyond in both Western and Eastern Europe. If possible, individual hybrid status should be confirmed using genetic data, and as such we consider these identifications as hypotheses to be tested. This was the first study of its kind and she hopes it will encourage researchers to look more closely at the fossils.
The pioneer of evolution.
The outcomes of hybridization are both novel and diverse in other organisms. Bovids, bears, cats and canids are some of the animal species that produce hybrid offspring. She says that hybrids are also known in primate. The introduction of new variation and the creation of new combinations of variation can facilitate rapid evolution.
The authors state that hybridization may have provided ancient humans with advantages when spreading from Africa to other parts of the world.
More information: Katerina Harvati, Merging morphological and genetic evidence to assess hybridization in Western Eurasian late Pleistocene hominins, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01875-z. www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01875-z Journal information: Nature Ecology & Evolution
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