We may not, as previously thought, have a little bit of Neanderthal in us, scientists have revealed.
Similarities between the DNA of modern people and Neanderthals are more likely to have arisen from shared ancestry than interbreeding, a new study has found.
The team from the University of Cambridge published their new theory this week in PNAS journal.
Previously, it had been suggested that interbreeding was common, explaining our shared genome.
However, the newly published research proposes a different explanation.
Cambridge evolutionary biologists Dr Anders Eriksson and Dr Andrea Manica, found that the amount of DNA shared between modern Eurasian humans and Neanderthals - estimated at between 1-4% - actually comes from a common ancestor.
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How can this be?
I know someone who has an enormous amount of Neanderthal in him!
Living in a village not too far away from us is the living proof that there are people with Neanderthal genes.
If you knew this person, you would surely agree.
