Researchers Just Released The First High-Quality Neanderthal Genome Sequence
The genome sequence was generated from a toe bone of a neanderthal discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia.
"The genome is of very high quality," study researcher Kay Prüfer said in a statement [PDF]. Instead of the once-over "draft" genome, this new version has sequenced every letter of the Neanderthal's DNA sequence 50 times over.
This individual seems to be closely related to other Neanderthals that have been partially sequenced, the researchers said. Neanderthals seem to have survived in Europe until around 30,000 years ago.
There are many theories about how the Neanderthals went extinct, but a recent theory indicates that their brains were more dedicated to vision than modern humans, which left them less brainpower for other things.
This gives us a much better idea of the Neanderthal's genetics — we are more sure of the individual changes that distinguish them from modern humans, ancient humans, other neanderthals, and other human-lineages, like the Denisovans.
The Denisovans are a group of ancient humans that are closely related to Neanderthals and modern humans. They lived until at least 40,000 years ago in the same areas as Neanderthals and modern humans. Their genome was sequenced last year after their discovery in 2008.
Though the new Neanderthal genome hasn't been published or pushed through peer-review — an important step in scientific studies — they have made it freely available to the scientific community and the public.
The paper they publish will also likely have more information about how the genome compares to other hominids.
"We are in the process of comparing this Neanderthal genome to the Denisovan genome as well as to the draft genomes of other Neanderthals," study researcher Svante Pääbo said. "We will gain insights into many aspects of the history of both Neanderthals and Denisovans and refine our knowledge about the genetic changes that occurred in the genomes of modern humans after they parted ways with the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans."