Neanderthals and Humans Bred Twice

Neanderthals may have disappeared from the world 30,000 years ago, but a new study suggests they never really left. For a recent genetic analysis suggests the ancient species actually interbred with the ancestors of modern humans twice. All of us, it seems, are carrying a few Neanderthal genes within our DNA.

Anthropologists from the University of New Mexico studied the DNA, which are the building blocks of life, of nearly 2,000 people from around the globe.

The subjects were drawn from 99 different populations. The scientists studied sections of the genome, that can be used to identify people much like fingerprints. They were then able to create an evolutionary tree to explain the genetic variations they came across.

The variation is best explained if there were two periods of interbreeding between humans and an ancient species such as Homo neanderthalensis or Homo heidelbergensis.

Study leader Jeffrey Long said: 'It means there is a little bit of Neanderthal left over in almost all humans.'

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This does explain why some people are still walking round with their knuckles trailing on the ground

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