Gene flow from Neanderthals has shaped genetic and phenotypic variation in modern humans. We generated a catalog of Neanderthal ancestry segments in more than 300 genomes spanning the past 50,000 years. We examined how Neanderthal ancestry is shared among individuals over time. Our analysis revealed that the vast majority of Neanderthal gene flow is attributable to a single, shared extended period of gene flow that occurred between 50,500 to 43,500 years ago, as evidenced by ancestry correlation, colocalization of Neanderthal segments across individuals, and divergence from the sequenced Neanderthals. Most natural selection—positive and negative—on Neanderthal variants occurred rapidly after the gene flow. Our findings provide new insights into how contact with Neanderthals shaped modern human origins and adaptation.

中文翻译：

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尼安德特人祖先随时间的变化：来自古代和现代人类基因组的见解


来自尼安德特人的基因流塑造了现代人类的遗传和表型变异。我们生成了过去 50,000 多个基因组中 300 多个尼安德特人祖先片段的目录。我们研究了尼安德特人血统如何随着时间的推移在个体之间共享。我们的分析表明，绝大多数尼安德特人基因流动归因于 50,500 至 43,500 年前发生的单一、共享的延长基因流动时期，祖先相关性、尼安德特人片段跨个体的共定位以及与测序的尼安德特人的分化都证明了这一点。尼安德特人变异的大多数自然选择（阳性和阴性）发生在基因流动之后迅速发生。我们的研究结果为与尼安德特人的接触如何塑造现代人类的起源和适应提供了新的见解。