Dalén, L.Orlando, LudovicShapiro, BethBrandström-Durling, MikaelQuam, RolfThomas P. Gilbert, M.Díez Fernández-Lomana, Juan CarlosWillerslev, EskeArsuaga Ferreras, Juan LuisGötherström, Anders2023-06-202023-06-202012-081537-171910.1093/molbev/mss074https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/43101Remarkably 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.engjournal articleopen access569.89577.21Neanderthaldemographyclimate changeancient DNA.PaleontologíaBiología molecular (Biología)2416 Paleontología2415 Biología Molecular