Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS

Oldest DNA from a Homo sapiens reveals surprisingly recent Neanderthal ancestry

Ancient human lineages interbred commonly in Europe, as well as the Middle East.
  1. Ewen Callaway
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Scientists have sequenced the oldest Homo sapiens DNA on record, showing that many of Europe’s first humans had Neanderthals in their family trees. Yet these individuals are not related to later Europeans, according to two genome studies of remains dating back more than 45,000 years from caves in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic1,2.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 592, 339 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00916-0

References

  1. Hajdinjak, M. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Prüfer, K. et al. Nature Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01443-x (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Fu, Q. et al. Nature 524, 216–219 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links