DNA from 27 Neanderthal Remains Shows Maintained Genetic Diversity

DNA sequenced from 27 Neanderthal remains at seven sites in Belgium and two in France shows that late north-western European groups maintained genetic diversity without signs of increasing harmful mutations. The remains, which belonged to at least 11 individuals, date from 52,500 to around 40,000 years ago.

One high-quality genome came from a woman cannibalised some 45,000 years ago in Goyet cave in Belgium.

All analysed Neanderthals had lower genetic diversity than modern humans living at the same time, yet these north-western groups displayed more diversity than earlier Neanderthal populations in the Altai region of Siberia. The north-western Neanderthals were more closely related to one another than to other late groups in Croatia and southern Russia.

Genetic data indicate they separated from a common ancestor with those eastern groups about 54,000 years ago.

No evidence of genes from modern humans appeared in the European Neanderthal genomes, even though modern humans reached Europe around 47,000 years ago and Neanderthals went physically extinct about 40,000 years ago. Prior to this study only four high-quality Neanderthal genomes existed, three of them from Siberia.

"These newly analysed Neanderthal genomes are very important since they are from some of the youngest known Neanderthals and provide new insights into Neanderthal genetic diversity near the time they went physically extinct," said Chris Stringer.

"These Neanderthals are even closer to the Neanderthal disappearance, and they have more genetic diversity than their predecessors in the east," said Alba Bossoms Mesa. " "This raises interesting questions about the dynamics between Neanderthals and modern humans that we still don’t fully understand," said Tharsika Vimala. The study was published in Nature with DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-10625-1.