In Tuesday’s New York Times, I have an article about an unlucky group of Neanderthals, massacred and cannibalized 50,000 years ago. Through some detective work, scientists have determined that they were members of an extended family. Here’s the paper (open access) if you want the gory details. While the interpretation the scientists present is not embraced by all the experts I contacted, they are excited at the prospect of this kind of fine-grained Neanderthal DNA sequencing. Of course, the lecture I gave last week now feels short a slide or two!
Originally published December 21, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.