This is seriously cool - a full draft sequence of the Neandertal genome. The best part is evidence for 1-4% admixture of archaic genes into the modern populations outside of Africa. I'm certainly not qualified to comment, but check out John Hawks' incredible post on the subject.
I'm beginning to think Science has read my syllabus. First, A. sediba is published the very week that I'm discussing the evolution of the genus Homo. Then, the Neandertal genome is published the day after I gave my "evaluating the models" talk to my Intro class. I'm very happy to say that this article fits nicely with everything I said in class. Human evolution isn't my field, so it's always nice to have some confirmation that I'm sufficiently up to date and knowledgeable.
Now that the semester is nearly over, and everyone in my family is over their colds, I hope to return to more regular posting, including more substantive posting about environmental archaeology. Until then, may your patience with student writing be long, and your red pen never run out of ink.
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