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Neanderthal DNA discovered in cave sediments


Claire.

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Long After Their Bones Were Gone, Neanderthals' DNA Survived in a Cave

DNA from two extinct human relatives — the Neanderthals, and a mysterious branch of humanity called the Denisovans — has been detected in the ancient mud of caves, even though those caves hold no fossils of those individuals, new research shows. The finding suggests that scientists could detect such extinct lineages in places devoid of skeletal remains, the researchers said. This technique, if verified, could fill blank spots in scientists' understanding of how and where humans evolved, according to the authors of the new study describing the finding.

Read more: Live Science. View photos.

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27 minutes ago, glorybebe said:

That is quite a discovery!

Absolutely. Scientists can now go back to various hominin sites where no fossils or skeletal remains have been found and search for 'mud' DNA. The only challenge mentioned by the researchers is that fact that cave (and other) sediments are often highly disturbed which might make the age of ancient hominin DNA idifficult to establish. But still...

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If this stands up then it's one of the most significant techniques in detecting extinct populations since we worked out how to date fossils. Again this might well lead to the answering of question we thought would always be elusive. Yesterday was obviously a good day in the discovering/publishing things world.

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Isn't it old news? 

I'm sure I've already read about it and it should belong to Svante Pääbo's research group at the Max Plank Institute. 

 

Nonetheless, amazing 

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