Fair-Haired Neanderthals

Those who are particularly interested in genetics and human evolution might want to take a look at the article published online in Science last week (E-pub ahead of print: 10.1126/science.1147417) and the published news item related to it (Science 318:546-547, Oct. 26, 2007). The authors of the online research article report that Neanderthals have a particular gene mutation that suggests that at least some Neanderthals had pale skin and red hair. There’s still no indication that Neanderthals ever interbred with modern humans, though. Instead, it appears that the Neanderthals evolved independently toward more human features before they died out entirely.