Ancient Toe Bone Shows Incest Role in Neanderthal Decline
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DNA from an ancient toe bone has provided new insight into the lives of Neanderthals, revealing that inbreeding was common among the group and may have contributed to their demise.
Scientists sequenced DNA from a 50,000-year-old toe bone of a female Neanderthal, found in Denisova Cave in Siberia where fossilized remnants of human ancestors were found in 2010, according to the report in the journal Nature. The analysis suggested that her parents were genetically close enough to be either half siblings, first cousins or an uncle and a niece.