In 2010, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (EVA) in Leipzig made a significant discovery: they published the complete genome of Homo neanderthalensis, a species often referred to as Neanderthal man. This groundbreaking research revealed stretches of Neanderthal DNA present in Homo sapiens genomes, specifically those of non-African origin. This genetic overlap strongly suggested interbreeding between the two species, but only after Homo sapiens had left Africa.
This finding isn’t unexpected. Homo sapiens originated in Africa, while Neanderthals inhabited Eurasia. Therefore, any intermixing of the two species would have logically occurred after sapiens migrated from its ancestral homeland and began its global expansion. The precise details of this interaction, however, have long remained elusive. The mystery of exactly how people left Africa deepens.
