Researchers pull DNA out of tiny bone fragments found in two Russian caves to offer a rare snapshot of Neanderthal family dynamics
A new study suggests Neanderthals formed small, tight-knit communities where females may have travelled to move in with their mates.
“When I work on a bone or two, it’s very easy to forget that these are actually people with their own lives and stories,” said study author Bence Viola, an anthropologist at the University of Toronto. “Figuring out how they’re related to each other really makes them much more human.” Since then, scientists have sequenced 18 Neanderthal genomes, said lead author Laurits Skov, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. But it’s rare to find bones from multiple Neanderthals from the same time and place, he said – which is why these cave discoveries were so special.The caves, located in remote foothills above a river valley, have been a rich source of materials from stone tools to fossil fragments, Viola said.
Overall, the analysis found that everyone in the group had a lot of DNA in common. That suggests that at least in this area, Neanderthals lived in very small communities of 10 to 20 individuals, the authors concluded.Researchers looked at other genetic clues from mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down on the mother’s side, and the Y chromosome, which is passed down on the father’s side.
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