近日，德国马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所教授Mateja Hajdinjak及其课题组的最新研究提出了欧洲西北部晚期尼安德特人的遗传多样性。这一研究成果发表在2026年6月24日出版的国际学术期刊《自然》上。

在这里，课题组人员获得了27个尼安德特人的基因数据，他们的生活时间不到52,500来自比利时和法国的十个考古遗址，其中包括来自比利时戈耶特的一个45000年前的人的高覆盖率基因组。研究小组的研究表明，这些人中的大多数彼此之间的亲缘关系比他们与同时代的欧洲晚期尼安德特人的亲缘关系更密切。此外，这些人中的一些人携带的DNA来自尼安德特人的血统，早于晚期尼安德特人的分裂。尽管这些尼安德特人在时间上与欧洲西北部的早期现代人重叠，从47000年开始几年前，该团队没有发现现代人类基因流动的证据。它们也没有显示出在阿尔泰尼安德特人身上发现的近亲交配的基因特征，这表明他们生活在更大或联系更紧密的群体中。

此外，基因负荷并没有随着时间的推移而积累，这就反驳了基因渐进式退化是尼安德特人灭绝的驱动因素。

研究人员表示，考古学、骨学和遗传学证据表明，尼安德特人以小群体生活；然而，对于这些群体是孤立的社区的一部分，还是属于更大的、联系紧密的群体，人们知之甚少。在比利时的Metheme盆地，密集分布着大致相同时期的尼安德特人遗址，这为以高分辨率研究区域人口提供了难得的机会。

附：英文原文

Title: Genetic diversity of late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe

Author: Bossoms Mesa, Alba, Essel, Elena, Peyrgne, Stphane, Smer, Arev P., Iasi, Leonardo N. M., Heide, Christian, Popli, Divyaratan, de Filippo, Cesare, Gansauge, Marie-Theres, Gerullat, Lars, Lippik, Laurin, Nagel, Sarah, Nickel, Birgit, Schellbach, Barbara, Schmidt, Anna, Visagie, Johann, Weihmann, Antje, Zeberg, Hugo, Zorn, Julia, Rougier, Hlne, Crevecoeur, Isabelle, Semal, Patrick, Abrams, Grgory, Devise, Thibaut, Pirson, Stphane, Di Modica, Kvin, Cattelain, Pierre, Draily, Christelle, Toussaint, Michel, De Groote, Isabelle, Welker, Frido, Posth, Cosimo, Soressi, Marie, Hublin, Jean-Jacques, Krause, Johannes, Pbo, Svante, Meyer, Matthias, Kelso, Janet, Peter, Benjamin M., Hajdinjak, Mateja

Issue&Volume: 2026-06-24

Abstract: Archaeological, osteological and genetic evidence suggests that Neanderthals lived in small groups1,2; however, less is known about whether these groups were part of isolated communities or belonged to larger, well-connected populations3. The dense concentration of broadly contemporaneous Neanderthal sites in the Meuse Basin, Belgium4, provides a rare opportunity to study regional populations at high resolution. Here we generated genetic data from 27 Neanderthals who lived less than approximately 52,500years ago from ten archaeological sites in Belgium and France, including a high-coverage genome from a 45,000-year-old individual from Goyet, Belgium. We show that most of these individuals are more closely related to one another than to other contemporaneous late Neanderthals in Europe. Further, some of these individuals carry DNA from a Neanderthal lineage predating the split of late Neanderthals. Although these Neanderthals overlapped temporally with early modern humans in northwestern Europe from around 47,000years ago, we find no evidence of recent gene flow from modern humans. They also do not show the genetic signatures of mating among close relatives found in Altai Neanderthals, suggesting that they lived in larger or better-connected groups. Moreover, genetic load did not accumulate over time, arguing against progressive genetic deterioration as a driver of Neanderthal extinction.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10625-1

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10625-1