Jan 24, 2025 07:39 PM
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/...tudy-finds
EXCERPTS: By sequencing the genomes of dozens of people who lived between 120,000 and 20,000 years ago, researchers found that Neanderthals had a rare blood group that could have been fatal to their newborns. Their study was published Thursday (Jan. 23) in the journal Scientific Reports.
[...] "Neanderthals have an Rh blood group that is very rare in modern humans," study lead author Stéphane Mazières ... This Rh variant — a type of RhD, another red blood cell antigen — is not compatible with the variants the team found in the Denisovans or the early Homo sapiens in their study.
"For any case of inbreeding of a Neanderthal female with a Homo sapiens or Denisova male," Mazières said, "there is a high risk of hemolytic disease of the newborn." The condition can lead to jaundice, severe anemia, brain damage and death.
[...] Mazières and colleagues found that the Rh gene variants found in many people today come from early Homo sapiens ancestors, who appear to have evolved them soon after leaving Africa...
While Neanderthals' general isolation could explain why their red blood cells did not evolve much over the years, there are still questions about why early humans' red blood cells diversified so much and so quickly — over a span of at least 15,000 years.
"My first thought was because of a demographic expansion," Mazières said. "Then, probably that the novel environments of Eurasia may have helped to maintain them throughout the generations." (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: By sequencing the genomes of dozens of people who lived between 120,000 and 20,000 years ago, researchers found that Neanderthals had a rare blood group that could have been fatal to their newborns. Their study was published Thursday (Jan. 23) in the journal Scientific Reports.
[...] "Neanderthals have an Rh blood group that is very rare in modern humans," study lead author Stéphane Mazières ... This Rh variant — a type of RhD, another red blood cell antigen — is not compatible with the variants the team found in the Denisovans or the early Homo sapiens in their study.
"For any case of inbreeding of a Neanderthal female with a Homo sapiens or Denisova male," Mazières said, "there is a high risk of hemolytic disease of the newborn." The condition can lead to jaundice, severe anemia, brain damage and death.
[...] Mazières and colleagues found that the Rh gene variants found in many people today come from early Homo sapiens ancestors, who appear to have evolved them soon after leaving Africa...
While Neanderthals' general isolation could explain why their red blood cells did not evolve much over the years, there are still questions about why early humans' red blood cells diversified so much and so quickly — over a span of at least 15,000 years.
"My first thought was because of a demographic expansion," Mazières said. "Then, probably that the novel environments of Eurasia may have helped to maintain them throughout the generations." (MORE - details)