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X-Chromosome Clues Point to Predominant Neanderthal Male–Human Female Pairings

Researchers infer the most common cross-species unions from a mirror imbalance of ancestry on the X chromosome.

Neanderthal man at the human evolution exhibit at the Natural History Museum on 19th January 2024 in London, United Kingdom. The museum exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. The museum is a centre of research specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
FILE - This Friday, March 20, 2009 file photo shows reconstructions of a Neanderthal man, left, and woman at the Neanderthal museum in Mettmann, Germany. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
People visit the exhibits inside the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins, including this Neanderthal skeleton display, Thursday, July 20, 2023, at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, in Washington. Growing research – including ancient DNA technology – is changing the picture of human evolution and how our ancestors interacted with other human-like creatures. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Overview

  • Published Thursday in Science, the study led by Alexander Platt compared ancient Neanderthal genomes with present-day African genomes that lack Neanderthal ancestry.
  • Neanderthal DNA is unusually scarce on the human X chromosome, while modern human DNA is enriched on Neanderthal X chromosomes, forming a mirrored pattern across species.
  • Because X chromosomes are inherited disproportionately from mothers, modeling indicates the pattern fits best with more matings between Neanderthal males and human females across multiple admixture events.
  • Analyses found no enrichment of human-derived segments in functional regions of Neanderthal genomes, undercutting the idea that natural selection alone purged X-linked Neanderthal DNA from humans.
  • Study authors and outside experts caution that alternatives are not fully excluded, including poorer survival of offspring from human-male–Neanderthal-female pairings and limits of genomic modeling to capture behavior.