Recent genetic analysis has suggested that early, anatomically modern humans interbred with neanders to the north and a poorly understood hominid subspecies named Denisovans further east as soon as they bolted out of Africa. Now it looks like our ancestors may have been slutting around even before they left the continent:
Scientists focused on several markers to determine if a DNA sequence qualified as archaic. For instance, a sequence that was radically different from those found in a modern human population was likely to be ancient, as well as if an unusual piece of DNA stretched over a significant portion of a chromosome. The longer these sequences — known as haplotypes — are, the more recently they have entered the population. About 2 percent of contemporary African DNA may come from this early hominid lineage.
The image is of H. heidelbergensis, a possible ancestor of both neanders and us, who may resemble the as yet unknown archaic homo the article refers to, and definitely resembles the guy in the cube next to me. That hominid tree leading to anatomically modern humans is going to end up full of cladistic bastards when all is said and done.
“cladistic bastard” is a great term. Sort of thing that might well have been shouted at a perp of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I’m glad we Europeans are related to the Neanderthals. I have a tall, lithe H. sapiens body, but somehow have a mild skull ridge, a heavy brow with deep eyes, and teeth sized in the 99th percentile. That last one has sent me to orthodontists and oral surgeons.