And here I was, expecting to read of fossilized panties undergoing DNA testing!
Instead, it's about tooth enamel!
Whew! That was a close one!
But tooth enamel? What does that tell us about the depraved sex practices of our ancient ancestors?
Regards,
Calls to mind that old song, “Tattooed Love Boys”.
yours:
“>..tooth enamel? What does that tell us about the depraved sex practices of our ancient ancestors?”
mine:
they must have bit on it. its a miracle any of us are here...
You can use the amino acid sequences of proteins (as you would the DNA sequences that built them) to infer whether a part of our genome is consistent with the consensus for our species vs. due to something "alien", like cross-breeding with Neanderthals or archaic members of the lineage.
As to how depraved they were, you have to wonder how many of these interbreeding events were due to rape rather than consensual. I'm guessing that much of the human-Neanderthal hybridization was due to burly Neanderthal males having their way with human females.
If this study suggests a H. sapiens x "archaic" H. sapiens cross, it could have been either rape or consensual. If it happened early on, the early H. sapiens line wouldn't be all that different from H. rudolfensis, etc, maybe less so than H. sapiens and Neanderthals.