Neanderthals 'spread to Siberia'
Monday, 01 Oct 2007 17:04
Neanderthals are thought to have spread from the Mediterranean to Uzbekistan
Science In Focus
Click here to see how British small businesses are creating innovative, low carbon business ideas, on inthenews.co.uk. Full Story
Neanderthals could have spread over 2,000km further eastwards than previously thought, a new study claims.
Research published today in the journal Nature says that Neanderthals, an early species related to man, may have reached central Asia and Siberia.
Many fossils have been found over a large area from the Mediterranean to Uzbekistan, but most are so fragmentary that it is hard to determine whether they are of Neanderthal or modern human origin.
Fossils found in Uzbekistan and southern Siberia were believed to be from European Neanderthals, but scientists have been unable to confirm this.
In today's study, a team of international researchers explain how they used DNA tests to identify what species the fossils come from.
They analysed the remains of the fossils and were able to extract mitochondrial DNA that proves the fossils fall within the European Neanderthal variation.
"This supports the view that central Asia was colonised relatively recently by Neanderthals. In fact, it has been suggested that Neanderthals did not colonise most of the Russian plains before an exceptionally warm episode 125,000 years ago, during which the Caspian Sea was drastically reduced in size," the researchers conclude.
"This may have facilitated the expansion of Neanderthals into central Asia and southern Siberia. Intriguingly, their presence in southern Siberia raises the possibility that they may have been present even farther to the east, in Mongolia and China. Further work will be necessary to address this possibility."