大约4万年前，克鲁麦农人从非洲来到欧洲，成了欧洲人的祖先。之所以将克鲁麦农人看成欧洲人的祖先，是因为他们的骨架解剖特征和现代欧洲人差不多。如今，一支基因科学家小组研究其基因后表明，2.8万年前来自意大利南部的单个克鲁麦农人的基因和解剖学特征与现代欧洲人相同，这进一步证明克鲁麦农人就是欧洲人的祖先。
4.5万至1万年前生活在欧洲的克鲁麦农人和尼安德特人（Neandertal）在欧洲共同生活了很长时间，然而，尼安德特人的解剖特征和基因明显不同于我们现代人。不过，获得克鲁麦农人的基因却是一项技术挑战，负责此项研究的费拉拉和佛罗伦萨大学的桂多?巴布加尼说：“研究远古个体的风险就是担心化石样本的DNA会被考古学家和生物学家磨损殆尽。为避免这样，我们对骨头化石进行了所有相位的修复，从而确定了所有和他们接触过的人的DNA排序。”
此研究结果发表在最新出版的《公共科学图书馆 综合》（PLoS ONE）杂志上。研究人员在文章中写道：“此单个克鲁麦农人携带mtDNA排序，mtDNA在现代欧洲人中普遍存在，而尼安德特人则不具备，证明2.8万年前欧洲人的系谱是从克鲁麦农人进化到现代欧洲人的。”
此结果首次证实克鲁麦农人和尼安德特人具有不同的解剖特征和遗传差异。因此在欧洲生活了近30万年的尼安德特人并不是现代欧洲人的祖先。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
PLoS ONE，doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002700，David Caramelli，Guido Barbujani
A 28,000 Years Old Cro-Magnon mtDNA Sequence Differs from All Potentially Contaminating Modern Sequences
David Caramelli1, Lucio Milani1, Stefania Vai1,2, Alessandra Modi1, Elena Pecchioli3, Matteo Girardi3, Elena Pilli1, Martina Lari1, Barbara Lippi4, Annamaria Ronchitelli5, Francesco Mallegni4, Antonella Casoli6, Giorgio Bertorelle2, Guido Barbujani2*
1 Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Firenze, Italy2 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione , Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy3 Centro di Ecologia Alpina Fondazione Edmund Mach, Viote del Monte Bondone, Trento, Italy4 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy5 Dipartimento di Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali , Università di Siena, Siena, Italy6 Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Inorganica, Chimica Analitica, Chimica Fisica, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Abstract
Background
DNA sequences from ancient speciments may in fact result from undetected contamination of the ancient specimens by modern DNA, and the problem is particularly challenging in studies of human fossils. Doubts on the authenticity of the available sequences have so far hampered genetic comparisons between anatomically archaic (Neandertal) and early modern (Cro-Magnoid) Europeans.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We typed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable region I in a 28,000 years old Cro-Magnoid individual from the Paglicci cave, in Italy (Paglicci 23) and in all the people who had contact with the sample since its discovery in 2003. The Paglicci 23 sequence, determined through the analysis of 152 clones, is the Cambridge reference sequence, and cannot possibly reflect contamination because it differs from all potentially contaminating modern sequences.
Conclusions/Significance:
The Paglicci 23 individual carried a mtDNA sequence that is still common in Europe, and which radically differs from those of the almost contemporary Neandertals, demonstrating a genealogical continuity across 28,000 years, from Cro-Magnoid to modern Europeans. Because all potential sources of modern DNA contamination are known, the Paglicci 23 sample will offer a unique opportunity to get insight for the first time into the nuclear genes of early modern Europeans.
