No Conquering People Has Ever Failed to Interbreed
One of the best arguments for the likelihood that modern humans carry a genetic legacy from our Neanderthal cousins draws on the observation that an invading population has never (in observable history) completely replaced an indigenous population. There is always some, and frequently a great deal, of interbreeding -- even when the original population is essentially eliminated by genocide. But while this is a compelling observation, it isn't hard evidence.
Now comes a new study (reported in Wired News) suggesting that our DNA shows traces of Neanderthal heritage. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this topic tends to get people really riled up -- and this latest paper in Science is no exception.
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