scottish_beekeeper

scottish_beekeeper t1_iv0hfil wrote

Mitochondria pass down 'intact' from mother to child in the egg - there is no 'mixing' of DNA as there is with sperm-egg fertilisation, where the resulting nuclear DNA in the child is a mixture of paternal and maternal DNA.

For there to be no mitochondrial Neandarthal DNA in current humans, this means that there are no current offspring descended from a female Neandarthal ancestor. That is, there is no unbroken line of daughters.

This potentially implies (but doesn't guarantee) one or more of the following:

  • Male Sapiens-Female Neanderthal reproduction did not produce female offspring, or produced sterile females.

  • Male sapiens were unable to reproduce successfully with female Neandarthals

  • There were Sapiens with Neandarthal mitochondria at one point, but none remain in our population (or have ever been discovered).

639