A mitochondrial genome sequence of a hominin from Sima de los Huesos

The Neanderthal in the karst: First dating, morphometric, and paleogenetic data on the fossil skeleton from Altamura (Italy)

“…Despite its short length, the mtDNA fragment from Altamura falls within the known range of Neanderthal diversity, being clearly distinct from both modern humans and the Denisova sequences. The sample from Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos (Meyer et al, 2013) was excluded from the subsequent analysis because for the fragment considered here it is poorly covered and misses informative sites. The sequence from Altamura clusters together with other Neanderthals from Western Europe in the tree reported in Figure 6.…”

Almost 20 years of Neanderthal palaeogenetics: adaptation, admixture, diversity, demography and extinction

“…Thus, these data suggest that Neanderthal features did not evolve as a block but rather they were fixed at different rates and paces in different parts of the anatomy. Moreover, and further complicating the scenario, the only Sima mtDNA sequence obtained so far seems to be phylogenetically most similar to that of Denisovans [61], found thousands of miles away, and much younger in age. Although nuclear genome sequences of these specimens would be needed to ascertain their precise relationship to archaic and modern humans, this study provides evidence that aDNA techniques have become sensitive enough to recover and analyse DNA from Middle Pleistocene hominin remains, even from non-permafrost environments.…”

“…As samples from older periods are screened in the search for precious genetic material, even sequencing a mitochondrial genome may require significant amounts of bone tissue [61], which may conflict with conservation purposes. Furthermore, target capture techniques have proved to be most efficient in accessing samples with low endogenous DNA; however, only certain genomic regions (e.g.…”

“…The mtDNA genome of a ca 400 000-year-old hominin from the Sima de los Huesos in Atapuerca (Spain; figure 1) has been sequenced recently [61]. Interestingly, the skeletal remains had previously been classified as H. heidelbergensis and dated to approximately 600 000 years ago, but both the classification and the date were the subject of dispute [62], and given that the remains exhibit a number of derived Neanderthal traits they have been postulated as the ancestors of Neanderthals.…”

Human evolution: The Neanderthal in the family

“…In the past year, researchers have unveiled the two oldest genomes on record: those of a horse that had been buried in Canadian permafrost for around 700,000 years 2 , and of a roughly 400,000-year-old human relative from a Spanish cavern 3 . A Neanderthal sequence every bit as complete and accurate as a contemporary human genome has been released 4 , as has the genome of a Siberian child connecting Native Americans to Europeans 5 .…”