Molecular analysis of Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus

Igor V. Ovchinnikov, Anders Götherström, Galina P. Romanova, Vitaliy M. Kharitonov, Kerstin Lidén and William Goodwin ()
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Igor V. Ovchinnikov: Human Identification Centre, University of Glasgow
Anders Götherström: Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University
Galina P. Romanova: Institute of Archaeology
Vitaliy M. Kharitonov: Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Moscow State University
Kerstin Lidén: Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University
William Goodwin: Human Identification Centre, University of Glasgow

Nature, 2000, vol. 404, issue 6777, 490-493

Abstract: Abstract The expansion of premodern humans into western and eastern Europe ∼40,000 years before the present led to the eventual replacement of the Neanderthals by modern humans ∼28,000 years ago1. Here we report the second mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of a Neanderthal, and the first such analysis on clearly dated Neanderthal remains. The specimen is from one of the eastern-most Neanderthal populations, recovered from Mezmaiskaya Cave in the northern Caucasus2. Radiocarbon dating estimated the specimen to be ∼29,000 years old and therefore from one of the latest living Neanderthals3. The sequence shows 3.48% divergence from the Feldhofer Neanderthal4. Phylogenetic analysis places the two Neanderthals from the Caucasus and western Germany together in a clade that is distinct from modern humans, suggesting that their mtDNA types have not contributed to the modern human mtDNA pool. Comparison with modern populations provides no evidence for the multiregional hypothesis of modern human evolution.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35006625

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