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Late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe were closely related

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Research area:biology-geneticsgenetics-genomics

What the study found

The study found that many late Neanderthals from Belgium and France were more closely related to each other than to other late Neanderthals elsewhere in Europe. It also found DNA from an older Neanderthal lineage in some individuals, and no evidence of recent gene flow from early modern humans.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors conclude that these findings help clarify whether Neanderthal groups were isolated or part of larger, connected populations. The study suggests that the lack of close-relative mating patterns seen in Altai Neanderthals points to larger or better-connected groups in northwestern Europe.

What the researchers tested

The researchers generated genetic data from 27 Neanderthals who lived less than about 52,500 years ago from ten archaeological sites in Belgium and France. This included a high-coverage genome from a 45,000-year-old individual from Goyet, Belgium.

What worked and what didn't

Most of the sampled individuals were more closely related to one another than to other contemporaneous late Neanderthals in Europe. Some individuals carried DNA from a Neanderthal lineage predating the split of late Neanderthals, and the group did not show evidence of recent gene flow from modern humans despite overlapping in time with early modern humans in northwestern Europe from around 47,000 years ago. Genetic load did not appear to increase over time, and the study did not find the inbreeding signatures reported for Altai Neanderthals.

What to keep in mind

The summary is limited to the abstract, so details about sample selection, analytic methods, and statistical uncertainty are not described here. The findings apply to the dated individuals from the sampled sites in Belgium and France.

Key points

  • 27 late Neanderthals from Belgium and France were genetically analyzed.
  • Most sampled individuals were closer to each other than to other late Neanderthals in Europe.
  • Some individuals carried DNA from an older Neanderthal lineage.
  • No evidence was found for recent gene flow from early modern humans.
  • The study did not find signs of close-relative mating like those seen in Altai Neanderthals.

Disclosure

Research title:
Late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe were closely related
Authors:
Alba Bossoms Mesa, Elena Essel, Stéphane Peyrégne, Arev Pelin Sümer, Leonardo N. M. Iasi, Christian Heide, Divyaratan Popli, Cesare de Filippo, Marie-Theres Gansauge, Lars Gerullat, Laurin Lippik, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Barbara Schellbach, A Floriaan Schmidt, Johann Visagie, Antje Weihmann, Hugo Zeberg, Julia Zorn, Hélène Rougier, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Patrick Semal, Grégory Abrams, Thibaut Devièse, Stéphane Pirson, Kévin Di Modica, Pierre Cattelain, Christelle Draily, Michel Toussaint, Isabelle De Groote, Frido Welker, Cosimo Posth, Marie Soressi, Jean‐Jacques Hublin, Johannes Krause, Svante Pääbo, Matthias Meyer, Janet Kelso, Benjamin M. Peter, Mateja Hajdinjak
Institutions:
Agence Wallonne du Patrimoine, Agence Wallonne du Patrimoine, Aix-Marseille Université, California State University, Northridge, Centre de Recherche et d’Enseignement de Géosciences de l’Environnement, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Biologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Collège de France, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, Ghent University, Ghent University, Ghent University, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Institute of Natural Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska Institutet, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leiden University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Ministère de la Culture, Musée de la Civilisation, QB3, Quantitative BioSciences, Research Foundation – Flanders, Royal Museums of Art and History, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Université de Bordeaux, Université Libre de Bruxelles, University of Copenhagen, University of Liège, University of Liège, University of Tübingen
Publication date:
2026-06-24
DOI:
10.1038/s41586-026-10625-1
OpenAlex record:
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AI provenance: This post was generated by gpt-5.4-mini (OpenAI). The original authors did not write or review this post.

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