Molecular analysis of Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus

Abstract

The expansion of premodern humans into western and eastern Europe ∼ 40,000 years before the present led to the eventual replacement of the Neanderthals by modern humans ∼ 28,000 years ago¹. Here we report the second mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of a Neanderthal, and the first such analysis on clearly dated Neanderthal remains. The specimen is from one of the eastern-most Neanderthal populations, recovered from Mezmaiskaya Cave in the northern Caucasus². Radiocarbon dating estimated the specimen to be ∼ 29,000 years old and therefore from one of the latest living Neanderthals³. The sequence shows 3.48% divergence from the Feldhofer Neanderthal⁴. Phylogenetic analysis places the two Neanderthals from the Caucasus and western Germany together in a clade that is distinct from modern humans, suggesting that their mtDNA types have not contributed to the modern human mtDNA pool. Comparison with modern populations provides no evidence for the multiregional hypothesis of modern human evolution.