Disease transmission and introgression can explain the long-lasting contact zone of modern humans and Neanderthals

Gili Greenbaum; Wayne M. Getz; Noah A. Rosenberg; Marcus W. Feldman; Erella Hovers; Oren Kolodny

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12862-7

Nature Communications (Nov 2019)

Disease transmission and introgression can explain the long-lasting contact zone of modern humans and Neanderthals

Gili Greenbaum,
Wayne M. Getz,
Noah A. Rosenberg,
Marcus W. Feldman,
Erella Hovers,
Oren Kolodny

Affiliations

Gili Greenbaum: Department of Biology, Stanford University
Wayne M. Getz: Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California
Noah A. Rosenberg: Department of Biology, Stanford University
Marcus W. Feldman: Department of Biology, Stanford University
Erella Hovers: The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Oren Kolodny: Department of Biology, Stanford University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12862-7
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted in the Levant for tens of thousands of years before modern humans spread and replaced Neanderthals. Here, Greenbaum et al. develop a model showing that transmission of disease and genes can explain the maintenance and then collapse of this contact zone.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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