3 ms·
There are people alive today with Neandertal ancestry, so at least one other species is still alive.
by throw93232 4y ago
There are people alive today with Neandertal ancestry, so at least one other species is still alive.
- krrrh 4y agoYour comment made me curious about the actual extent of this. > However, the absence of Neanderthal-derived patrilineal Y-chromosome and matrilineal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in modern humans, along with the underrepresentation of Neanderthal X chromosome DNA, could imply reduced fertility or frequent sterility of some hybrid crosses, representing a partial biological reproductive barrier between the groups, and therefore species distinction. > The genomes of all non-sub-Saharan populations contain Neanderthal DNA. Various estimates exist for the proportion, such as 1–4% or 3.4–7.9% in modern Eurasians, or 1.8–2.4% in modern Europeans and 2.3–2.6% in modern East Asians. From Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal
- dendodge 4y ago23andMe DNA tests claim to tell you what proportion Neanderthal you are. I, for example, have just under 2% Neanderthal DNA (allegedly), which they say is in the 47th percentile.
- kuhewa 4y agoFrom what I understand they test for some fraction, like 1/4 to 3/8 ish of total number of known Neanderthal SNPs. Dunno quite how representative that is of the total but I imagine probably a decent correlation. However, around 2013-14 they either changed the number of SNPs they considered Neanderthal origin or their algorithm changed, and I was PISSED because I went from 95th percentile to 47th-ish myself.
- throwaway48375 4y agoDenisovans too.
- mcherm 4y agoThat is absolutely not what "species" means.