A new study has found that humans and Neanderthals may have interbred thousands of years ago.
A team of researchers believe that a small part of the human X chromosome, which originates from Neanderthals, is present in about nine percent of individuals from outside of Africa.
According to CBC News, the study found that many humans outside of Africa share the same DNA with the extinct species.
“Somewhere very early on, there was an encounter between Neanderthals and humans,” says Dr. Damian Labuda of the pediatrics department of the University of Montreal.
Labuda is credited with leading a team of international scientists who compared chromosomal DNA from 6 000 people from around the world to the Neanderthal genome.
Their findings suggest that many people from across all continents, except for sub-Saharan Africa, shared a piece of DNA called a haplotype with Neanderthals.
Labuda estimates “intimate contact” between humans and Neanderthals took place in the Middle East 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. - IOL