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A new study shows that Neanderthal men mated with human women more often than the opposite pair
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Researchers suggest migration and social behavior could explain this pattern in early human-Neanderthal interactions
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Modern humans of European and Asian ancestry still carry 2% Neanderthal DNA from ancient interbreeding
A new study reveals new insights into the mating patterns and preferences of early humans.
The research is published in the journal science On February 26, researchers discovered that when Neanderthals and early humans interbred, a known phenomenon between the two species, most pairings appeared to involve Neanderthal males and human females. The reverse combination of Neanderthal females mating with human males appears to be less common.
The study’s authors said the pattern may reflect a “mate preference” between the two groups, meaning the pairings may not have been random.
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Scientists don’t know exactly why this preference exists, but say there are several possible explanations, including migration patterns, specific social behaviors, or how the two groups interacted as humans moved into areas where Neanderthals already lived.
Neanderthal skull at the Human Evolution exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London
Photo credit: Mike Kemp/Image via Getty
“This is really a thought-provoking paper,” Benjamin Peter, a population geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who was not associated with the study, told Science.org.
“This is hands down the best attempt I’ve seen to try to solve this problem.”
Duke University paleoanthropologist Steven Churchill, who was also not associated with the study, said the recent findings could raise questions and theories about potential social dynamics between Neanderthals and early humans.
In an interview with Science.org, he noted that if Neanderthal males monopolized human females’ attention, this could lead to “competitive, unfriendly interactions” between the two species.
However, the study’s authors also noted that the apparent pairing pattern may be a simple matter of biology rather than preference. They add that hybrids born to Neanderthal mothers and human fathers may be less likely to survive, which would make these pairings less common in the genetic record.
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Today, many people, especially those of European or Asian ancestry, still carry small amounts of Neanderthal DNA. According to reports, this is because early humans left Africa 45,000 to 49,000 years ago and lived with the Neanderthals in Eurasia. washington post.
According to Science.org, people of European or Asian ancestry have as much as two percent of their genomes descended from Neanderthals.
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