Genomic insights into the population dynamics and demise of Neanderthals

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24 June 2026 Genomic insights into the population dynamics and demise of Neanderthals A surge of genetic data from the skeletal remains of Neanderthals disproves some assumptions and generates fresh questions about these ancient hominins. By Carles Lalueza-Fox ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1730-5914 0 Carles Lalueza-Fox Carles Lalueza-Fox is at the Natural Sciences Museum of Barcelona, Barcelona 08019, Spain, and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Barcelona. View author publications PubMed Google Scholar

Remains of Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) are rare, and specimens with preserved genetic material are rarer still. High-quality genomes are especially uncommon: until now, only four were available, three of which came from Russia, at the periphery of the Neanderthals’ geographical range. Writing in Nature, Bossoms Mesa et al.1 report the remarkable recovery of genetic data from 27 more specimens, most of which are from archaeological sites in Belgium. Notably, many of these remains date to less than 47,000 years ago, when anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) were already present in Europe.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01704-4

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Competing Interests The author declares no competing interests.

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