Princeton study maps 200,000 years of Human–Neanderthal interbreeding

For centuries, we’ve imagined Neanderthals arsenic distant cousins — a abstracted taxon that vanished agelong ago. But acknowledgment to AI-powered familial research, scientists person revealed a acold much entangled history. Modern humans and Neanderthals didn’t conscionable transverse paths; they repeatedly interbred, shared genes, and adjacent merged populations implicit astir 250,000 years. These revelations suggest that Neanderthals ne'er genuinely disappeared — they were absorbed. Their bequest lives connected successful our DNA, reshaping our knowing of what it means to beryllium human.