A high-coverage Neandertal genome from the Altai Mountains reveals population structure among Neandertals

AI interpretationAI-generated

An 110,000-year-old Altai Neandertal genome reveals early population structure and Denisovan gene flow.

Researchers sequenced a ~110,000-year-old male Neandertal from Denisova Cave to high coverage. Comparing it with other Neandertal genomes, they found it was closer to an older Denisova Cave Neandertal than to European or later Altai Neandertals. Both Denisova Cave Neandertals show gene flow from Denisovans, unlike later Neandertals. They also lived in smaller, more isolated groups, and early eastern and later western Neandertals were as genetically distinct as today's most differentiated human populations.

• The 110,000-year-old Altai Neandertal is more closely related to a 120,000-year-old Denisova Cave Neandertal than to European or later Altai Neandertals.
• Both Denisova Cave Neandertals received gene flow from Denisovans, a pattern absent in later Neandertals from the Altai and Western Europe.
• Early Altai Neandertals (120,000-80,000 years ago) lived in smaller, more isolated groups than later European Neandertals (54,000-40,000 years ago), and eastern and western Neandertals were as differentiated as the most distinct modern human populations.

Sample interpretation

This study analyzes a single high-coverage genome from a ~110,000-year-old male Neandertal from Denisova Cave, alongside previously published high-quality Neandertal genomes. No Y-chromosome or mitochondrial haplogroup data are provided in the abstract. The sample is key for understanding early Neandertal population structure in the Altai region.

For genealogy enthusiasts

For ancestry enthusiasts, this shows Neandertals were not a single homogeneous group. Early eastern and later western Neandertals were deeply structured, and some early Neandertals interbred with Denisovans. This helps refine models of archaic admixture in modern human ancestry.