RT Journal Article T1 Partial Genetic Turnover in Neandertals: Continuity in the East and Population Replacement in the West A1 Dalén, L. A1 Orlando, Ludovic A1 Shapiro, Beth A1 Brandström-Durling, Mikael A1 Quam, Rolf A1 Thomas P. Gilbert, M. A1 Díez Fernández-Lomana, Juan Carlos A1 Willerslev, Eske A1 Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis A1 Götherström, Anders AB Remarkably little is known about the population-level processes leading up to the extinction of the neandertal. To examine this, we use mitochondrial DNA sequences from 13 neandertal individuals, including a novel sequence from northern Spain, to examine neandertal demographic history. Our analyses indicate that recent western European neandertals (<48 kyr) constitute a tightly defined group with low mitochondrial genetic variation in comparison with both eastern and older (>48 kyr) European neandertals. Using control region sequences, Bayesian demographic simulations provide higher support for a model of population fragmentation followed by separate demographic trajectories in subpopulations over a null model of a single stable population. The most parsimonious explanation for these results is that of a population turnover in western Europe during early Marine Isotope Stage 3, predating the arrival of anatomically modern humans in the region. PB Oxford University Press SN 1537-1719 YR 2012 FD 2012-08 LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/43101 UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/43101 LA eng NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) DS Docta Complutense RD 5 abr 2025