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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Neandertals, Modern Humans Interbred, Bone Study Suggests


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Fragments of a cranium (left), upper jaw and facial bone (top right), lower jaw (top center), and shoulder blade (bottom right) from 30,000-year-old fossil remains from Romania all show a mix of human and Neandertal traits.

Scientists say the bone features are the best evidence yet that humans and Neandertals interbred significantly and that humans may have absorbed Neandertals instead of out-competing them to extinction.

Photographs courtesy PNAS