DNA reshapes Neanderthal extinction: population webs and possible human impact
A team sequenced 27 Neanderthals from 10 sites across Belgium and France, showing late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe lived in large, interconnected populations rather than isolated groups, which challenges the idea that extinction was driven solely by genetic decline. The Belgian Goyet site reveals cannibalism but within the same genetic group, and the study finds no evidence of recent Neanderthal ancestry in humans, even as modern humans carry Neanderthal DNA. The researchers also advance methods to recover data from degraded remains, enabling population-level reconstructions and richer insights into Neanderthal life and interactions.
