Neandertal mtDNA

mtDNA Sample
(HVR-1)

Sequence Number (Read Down)
111111111111111111111111111111111
666666666666666666666666666666666
000011111111111112222222222233334
378900112345568880233455667912571
786378129984692399304468238910420

Modern Human AATTCCCCGACTGCAATTCACGCAC-CATCCTC
Chimpanzee ......T.ATT.....ACTGAAA....G....
Neandertal #1 GG.CTTTTATTC.T.CCCTGTAAGTATGCT.CT
Neandertal #2  .C.....ATT.ATCCCCTGTAA.TATGCTTC
Neandertal #3 GG......ATTC.TCCCCTGTAAGTATGCT.C
Neandertal #4 GG......ATTC.TCCCCTGTAA.TATGCT.C
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Slide 57 of 109


The table above shows the sequence differences found between modern humans and the four Neandertal remains analyzed to date. On average, the Neandertal sequences differed from the modern human sequence by 25 base pairs. By comparison, the average variation among modern humans is only 8 base pairs, all the base pairs of which are at different loci than the Neandertal differences. The analysis of the second sample was extremely important, since it was dated at 29,000 years ago - only 1000 years before the last Neandertal disappeared. If Neanderthals and humans had interbred, one should have expected to see this in the last remnants of the Neandertals. In addition, since the Neandertal fossils were separated geographically by over 2,500 km, it shows that Neandertals were a homogeneous species. The researchers conclusion: "Neanderthals were not our ancestors" - a quote from the authors of the first study. In fact, the differences between modern humans and Neandertals were so great that calculations indicated that the last common ancestor (according to evolutionary theory) must have existed 550,000 to 690,000 years ago (first study) and 365,000 to 853,000 years ago (second study).


References Top of page

  1. Krings, M., A. Stone, R. W. Schmitz, H. Krainitzki, M. Stoneking, and S. Paabo. 1997. Neandertal DNA Sequences and the Origin of Modern Humans. Cell 90: 19-30.

  2. Ovchinnikov, I.V., A. Gotherstrom, G. P. Romanovak, V. M. Kharitonov, K. Liden, and W. Goodwin. 2000. Molecular analysis of Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus. Nature 404: 490-493.

  3. Krings, M., C. Capelli, F. Tschentscher, H. Geisert, S. Meyer, A. von Haeseler, K. Grossschmidt, G. Possnert, M. Paunovic, and S. Pääbo. 2000. A view of Neandertal genetic diversity Nature Genetics 26: 144-146.

  4. Schmitz, R. W., Serre, D., Bonani, G., Feine, S., Hillgruber, F., Krainitzki, H., Pääbo, S. & Smith, F. H. 2002. The Neandertal type site revisited: Interdisciplinary investigations of skeletal remains from the Neander Valley, Germany. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 99: 13342-13347


Last Modified June 21, 2006