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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Neanderthal Genome "First Draft" Unveiled


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A "first draft" of the Neanderthal genome is adding to evidence that the extinct human species (above, an artist's reconstruction of a Neanderthal female) was lactose intolerant and could have shared some basic language capabilities with modern humans, researchers announced in February 2009.

The study team hopes the genome may help explain what gave modern humans an evolutionary edge over Neanderthals, which vanished about 30,000 years ago.

Photograph by Joe McNally/NGS