Neanderthals Never Lived In East Asia Why Are They Most Closely Related to Asians

Today's East Asians have on average 16% more Neanderthal ancestry than West Europeans. That's puzzling because the Neanderthals' stomping ground was Europe and the Middle East. There's no evidence that they ever reached East Asia, insofar as we know. So how'd Asians end up with more of their DNA? Let's talk about it, brah. Neanderthals were a subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until around 40,000 years They're our closest extinct human relatives, sharing a common ancestor with modern humans around 600,000 to 700,000 years ago. Though it could be argued that Neanderthals are actually alive and well in you and me. As the people of Eurasia, as well as all Native Americans, carry on average just under 2% Neanderthal DNA. The Neanderthals were skilled hunters and gatherers, adapting to various environments across Europe and West Asia during the last Ice Age. Evidence suggests that they had sophisticated tools, controlled fire, and engaged in symbolic behavior, such as burying their dead, creating artwork, and even had fashion sense, with evidence that they may have adorned themselves in jewelry and decorative feathers. Neanderthals are known for their robust builds, large noses, and prominent brow ridges, which adds to the oddity that East Asians are genetically more similar to them. Because while Neanderthals had a wide variety of appearances in different regions just like us Homo Sapiens, let's be honest, when we think of the typical Neanderthal look, it resembles Indo-Europeans a bit more than it does East Asians. Caucasians often carry genes to express larger and taller noses, and more prominent brow ridges, while East Asians tend to carry genes to express smaller and flatter noses, with less prominent brow ridges. One explanation for this is that although East Asians possess more Neanderthal DNA in comparison with West Europeans, the data may provide a false impression. With the average Eurasian possessing approximately 2% Neanderthal DNA, a 16% difference translates to around 1.8% in West Europeans compared to 2.1% in East Asians. This is relatively insignificant when compared to the other 98% of a person's genetic makeup, and would likely not play a noticeable role in an individual's physical appearance. Just imagine a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white American claiming to be 150th Cherokee Indian. But this still doesn't answer the question of why. Going back in time, hunter-gatherers in Europe indeed had more Neanderthal DNA than their East Asian counterparts, as one would expect given that Neanderthals lived in Europe. But about 10,000 years ago, something happened in the Neolithic era. Early farmers with lower levels of Neanderthal ancestry began to migrate out of Anatolia into Europe. Their lower levels of Neanderthal DNA was likely due to their ancestors being members of that left Africa later than early West Europeans and East Asians. When Neanderthal populations had already gone extinct, these Anatolian farmers mixed with the local European hunter-gatherers who had high Neanderthal ancestry. The result was the dilution of the Neanderthal signal in their progeny. But if Neanderthals never reached East Asia, why do East Asians have any Neanderthal DNA at all? Because they too descend from people who exited Africa via the Middle East around 70,000 to 50,000 years ago. We all have some Neanderthal DNA because all non-Africans today descend from people who exited Africa through the Middle East, which was thronged with Neanderthals. Thus, the early wave of modern humans who successfully colonized East Asia reached it with Neanderthal DNA already inside them. So, meetings between Homo sapiens who are our ancestors and Neanderthals apparently began in the Middle East. Then, as humans reached Europe and forayed further and further northwest, they met more Neanderthals and mixed with them too. Meanwhile, more and more humans would continue to come out of Africa with little to no Neanderthal DNA, migrating into southern Europe. Thus, a gradient was created in prehistoric Europe. The humans in the north had more Neanderthal DNA than humans in southern Europe. Over time, through the mass migration of populations in all directions, the amount of Neanderthal DNA in Europe was diluted down to levels below that of East Asians. While in East Asia, humans retained more of their Neanderthal lineage, having remained relatively isolated from the new waves of Homo sapiens freshly out of Africa, thanks to the natural boundaries created by the Himalayan mountain range and the Gobi Desert. So, the next time you think someone from a different ethnic background is so different from you, don't forget, we all shared an old Neanderthal pop-pop somewhere in the Middle East just a couple thousand generations ago. Since we're all Neanderthal relatives, help a cousin out by liking and subscribing.