DNA obtained from a man who lived 40,000 years ago in Romania revealed that nearly 11 percent of his genetic makeup was from Neanderthals, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature. This large genetic makeup indicates that Neanderthals may have been in the man’s family as close to four generations back and that early members of the human species bred with Neanderthals in Europe. It is still unclear whether Neanderthals went extinct or were simply absorbed into the modern human species.
