New Discoveries Unveil Ancient Human-Neanderthal Connections

Geneticist Joshua Akey states that modern humans and Neanderthals interacted for a period of 200,000 years.
New genetic research reveals extensive interbreeding and longstanding interactions between Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans, suggesting a more integrated history than previously understood and supporting theories of Neanderthal assimilation into modern human populations.

Since the discovery of the first Neanderthal bones in 1856, curiosity about these ancient hominins has grown. How are they different from us? How much are they like us? Did our ancestors get along with them? Fight them? Love them? The recent discovery of a group called Denisovans, a Neanderthal-like group who populated Asia and South Asia, added its own set of questions.