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Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens share a common ancestor that originated in Africa - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 8 - 2023 - Paper 1
Question 8
Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens share a common ancestor that originated in Africa. By the time modern humans left Africa around 300,000 years ago, Neanderthals h... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens share a common ancestor that originated in Africa - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 8 - 2023 - Paper 1
Step 1
Suggest two possible ways in which people with African ancestry could have some Neanderthal DNA in their genomes.
Answer
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Ancestors of modern Africans could have interbred with Neanderthals before migrating from Africa.
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Ancestors of modern Africans may have left Africa and interbred with Neanderthals in Europe and Asia before returning to Africa.
Step 2
Suggest why it is reasonable that modern Europeans and Asians show greater percentages of Neanderthal DNA.
Answer
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Homo sapiens coexisted with Neanderthals for a longer period of time in Europe and Asia, so more opportunities existed for interbreeding.
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Homo sapiens who originated in Africa did not coexist or interbreed with Neanderthals, as Neanderthals did not live in Africa.