Ugh, still dating that NEANDERTHAL?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Fifty thousand years ago, that was normal! Huh?!
Alexander Platt and team at the University of Pennsylvania investigated.
These encounters left clues in DNA. Remember: Mothers always pass X chromosomes, while fathers pass X to daughters and Y to sons. X chromosomes are the key to identifying DNA from mothers versus fathers.
AND? Human X chromosomes show relatively low levels of Neanderthal DNA. BUT, Neanderthal X chromosomes have relatively HIGHER proportions of HUMAN DNA. This pattern suggests that hookups were most common between Neanderthal males and human females!
So, if you think dating today sucks… at least you’re not in a Paleolithic situationship! Or throuple.
Reference: Alexander Platt et al., Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans was strongly sex biased. Science 391,922-925(2026).