Neanderthals and Modern Humans: The Genetic Evidence for Interbreeding (2011)

Lecture by David Reich

Neanderthals, our closest evolutionary relative, lived in parts of Europe and western Asia before disappearing 30,000 years ago. The great questions have always been, did they interbreed with our Homo sapiens ancestors and is there evidence of Neanderthal genes in present-day humans? David Reich, Associate Professor of Genetics at Harvard, addressed these issues with comparisons of the Neanderthal genome to the genomes of present-day humans.

Part of the Evolution Matters Lecture Series. Supported by a gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.