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Published online 17 May 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060515-10
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Chimpanzee and human ancestors may have interbred
Genetic analysis suggests a messy split between the two lineages.
The evolutionary split between humans and our nearest evolutionary cousins, chimpanzees, may have occurred more recently than we thought, according to a new comparison of the respective genetic sequences. What's more, it might have been a messy divorce rather than a clean break — leading to the controversial theory that our two sets of ancestors may have interbred many thousands of years after first parting company.
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