Separation between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred 500,000 years earlier
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 07:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
The separation of Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have occurred at least one million years ago, more than 500.000 years earlier than previously believed after DNA-based analyses. A doctoral thesis conducted at the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution (Centro Nacional de Investigacion sobre la Evolucion Humana) -associated with the University of Granada-, analysed the teeth of almost all species of hominids that have existed during the past 4 million years. Quantitative methods were employed and they managed to identify Neanderthal features in ancient European populations...