Similarities between the DNA of modern people and Neanderthals are more likely to have arisen from shared ancestry than interbreeding, a study reports.
That is according to research carried out at the University of Cambridge and published this week in PNAS journal.
Previously, it had been suggested that shared parts of the genomes of these two populations were the result of interbreeding.
However, the newly published research proposes a different explanation.
The origin of modern humans is a hotly debated topic; four main theories have arisen to describe the evolution of Homo sapiens.
All argue for an African origin, but an important distinction in these competing theories is whether or not interbreeding - or “hybridisation” - occurred between Homo sapiens and other members of the genus Homo.