Study: Neanderthals, humans didn't mix
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A fictional representation of a Neanderthal.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Neanderthal was a squat, powerful hunter who dominated Europe for more than 100,000 years, but he disappeared forever when modern humans evolved in Africa and moved to the other continents.
There is no convincing evidence, says Richard G. Klein of Stanford University, that Neanderthals and modern humans ever mixed in substantial numbers, which means that when the Neanderthals died out, so did their genes.
"The Neanderthals may thus be regarded as a fascinating, but extinct, side branch of humanity," Klein writes in the journal Science.
This view, based on genetic and fossil studies, contradicts some studies that have suggested extensive interbreeding between the Neanderthals and modern humans. Those studies, based on a comparison of Neanderthal fossils and modern human bones, concluded that Neanderthal genes are a part of European heritage.
"I don't think that is widely accepted any more," said Klein.
Behaving in a modern way
 There is little to suggest that Neanderthals could behave in a modern ... way. This inability may explain why they disappeared so quickly and completely. 
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-- Richard G. Klein, Stanford University
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He said modern studies of mitochondrial DNA from Neanderthal fossils suggest that the modern humans and the Neanderthals had a common ancestor about 500,000 years ago. But he said the studies do not support the notion that there was interbreeding after modern humans evolved in Africa and invaded Neanderthal habitats, starting about 45,000 years ago.
"The Neanderthal was a highly successful species," said Klein, but the reasons they became extinct are still unknown. Some theories have suggested they were wiped out by diseases introduced by modern humans. Another theory is that modern humans had better minds and an organized culture that enabled them to outsmart the Neanderthals for limited resources of game and other food.
"There is little to suggest that Neanderthals could behave in a modern ... way," Klein writes in Science. "This inability may explain why they disappeared so quickly and completely."
Keeping up with the humans
Klein said modern humans may have evolved a gene promoting speech and language that the Neanderthals lacked, but this is a theory without substantial proof.
Henry Harpending, a University of Utah anthropologist, said he is unconvinced of either Klein's arguments or theories that there was interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans.
Harpending said the genetic evidence is only marginal and open to different interpretations.
"Right now, there's no compelling evidence for either point of view," he said.
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