NEANDERTHAL DNA-SEQUENCES AND THE ORIGIN OF MODERN HUMANS

DNA was extracted from the Neandertal-type specimen found in 1856 in w estern Germany. By sequencing clones from short overlapping PCR produc ts, a hitherto unknown mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequence was determined. Multiple controls indicate that this sequence is endogenous to the fo ssil. Sequence comparisons with human mtDNA sequences, as well as phyl ogenetic analyses, show that the Neandertal sequence falls outside the variation of modern humans. Furthermore, the age of the common ancest or of the Neandertal and modern human mtDNAs is estimated to be four t imes greater than that of the common ancestor of human mtDNAs. This su ggests that Neandertals went extinct without contributing mtDNA to mod ern humans.