New Study Shows That Neanderthal Men Likely Repeatedly Mated with Human Women

The findings may reveal new insights into early human mating preferences

NEED TO KNOW

• A new study suggests Neanderthal males mated with human females more often than the reverse pairing
• Researchers propose migration and social behaviors may explain this pattern in early human-Neanderthal interactions
• Modern humans of European and Asian ancestry still carry up to 2% Neanderthal DNA from ancient interbreeding

A new study has revealed new insights into the mating patterns and preferences of early humans.

The study, published in the journal Science on Feb. 26, found that when Neanderthals and early humans interbred — a known phenomenon between the two species — most pairings appear to have involved Neanderthal males and human females. The reverse combination, in which Neanderthal females mated with human males, was seemingly significantly less common.

The study’s authors stated that this pattern may reflect a kind of “partner preference” between the two groups, meaning these pairings may not have been random.

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Scientists don’t know exactly why this preference would have existed, but said that there are several possible explanations, including migration patterns, specific social behaviors, or how the two groups interacted when humans moved into areas where Neanderthals already lived.

“It’s a really thought-provoking paper,” said Benjamin Peter, a population geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who was unrelated to the study, while speaking to Science.org.

 “This is certainly the best attempt trying to get at this question that I have seen.”

Duke University paleoanthropologist Steven Churchill, who is also unrelated to the study, said that the recent findings could invite questions and theories about potential social dynamics between Neanderthals and early humans.

While speaking to Science.org, he noted that if Neanderthal males monopolized the attention of human females, it reasonably could have led to “competitive, unfriendly interaction” between the two species overall.

However, the study’s authors also noted that the apparent pairing pattern could be a simple matter of biology as opposed to preference. They added that hybrid children born to Neanderthal mothers and human fathers may have been less likely to survive, which would make those pairings less common in the genetic record.

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Many people alive today, especially those with European or Asian ancestry, still carry small amounts of Neanderthal DNA. This is because a population of early humans left Africa between 45,000 and 49,000 years ago and lived alongside Neanderthals in Eurasia, according to The Washington Post.

As much as two percent of the genomes of people of European or Asian ancestry originate from Neanderthals, according to Science.org.

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