Stone Age Genetics: Ancient DNA enters humanity’s heritage

Genetic material that Italian researchers extracted from the bones of European Stone Age Homo sapiens, sometimes called Cro-Magnons, bolsters the theory that people evolved independently of Neandertals, the team proposes.

GENETIC FACE-OFF. Mitochondrial DNA from this Cro-Magnon (left) and one other differs markedly from that of Neandertals (right).