The article discusses research on the encounter between Neanderthals and modern humans in Eurasia around 40,000 years ago, based on analysis of Neanderthal DNA in human genomes. It explains that Neanderthals inhabited western Eurasia for hundreds of thousands of years before modern humans arrived from Africa. The two species coexisted and interbred for a few millennia, resulting in around 2% Neanderthal DNA in Eurasian human genomes today. The research found subtle variations in the percentage of Neanderthal DNA over time and geography, with higher levels in Asia than Europe currently but higher levels in Europe early on. Overall the research traces stages in the hybridization history and interaction between the two species. (Claude-AI assisted summary.)
The Encounter Between Neanderthals And Sapiens As Told By Their Genomes
About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years in the western part of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had arrived from Africa. This replacement was not sudden, and the two species coexisted for a few millennia, resulting in the integration of Neanderthal DNA into the genome of Sapiens.
