Neanderthal and modern human Y chromosomes are more similar to one another than they are to Denisovan Y chromosomes

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has determined Y chromosome sequences of three Neanderthals and two Denisovans.


By comparing the archaic human Y chromosomes to each other and to the Y chromosomes of people living today, the team found that Neanderthal and modern human Y chromosomes are more similar to one another than they are to Denisovan Y chromosomes. "This was quite a surprise to us. We know from studying their autosomal DNA that Neanderthals and Denisovans were closely related and that humans living today are their more distant evolutionary cousins. Before we first looked at the data, we expected that their Y chromosomes would show a similar picture," says Martin Petr, the lead author of the study. The researchers also calculated that the most recent common ancestor of Neanderthal and modern human Y chromosomes lived around 370,000 years ago, much more recently than previously thought.