Humans may be ‘larks’ thanks to inherited Neanderthal genes – study
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Scientists suggest that the human tendency to wake up and fall asleep early may be inherited from Neanderthals.
This was reported by The Guardian with reference to a study published in the scientific journal Genome Biology and Evolution.
A group of American scientists discovered that the DNA inherited from Neanderthals may be the reason why some people are “larks” – they wake up and fall asleep early.
Most of the genes that modern people received as a result of ancient interbreeding were weeded out by evolution. However, a small part of them still remained. It is likely that these genes helped Homo sapiens adapt to a new environment when they migrated from Africa to Eurasia about 70,000 years ago.
| Reconstruction of the face of the oldest Neanderthal found. Photo: BART MAAT/Getty Images) |
At that time, Neanderthals, adapted to life in a cooler climate, were already living there. Thanks to interbreeding between these species, modern humans have up to 4% DNA from the latter. In particular, we are talking about genes related to skin pigmentation, hair, fat and immunity.
Researchers have analyzed the DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals and found that they have different circadian rhythms. They also turned to the UK Biobank, which stores the genetic information, health and lifestyle data of half a million people. With this, scientists saw that many people were carriers of a genetic variant associated with early awakening.
However, Neanderthal genes are not necessarily required to be a “lark”. It is influenced by hundreds of different genes, environment and culture.
According to study co-author John Capra, many modern humans are carriers of Neanderthal genes that helped our ancestors adapt to life at higher latitudes.
“We don’t think the morning rise is what was actually beneficial. Rather, it’s a signal that the clock is running faster and is better at adapting to seasonal variations in light levels.
At higher latitudes, it is useful to have a more flexible “clock” that better adapts to seasonal changes in light levels. – says the scientist.
According to Professor Mark Maslin, who was not involved in the research, scientists now have genetic evidence that some people are indeed “larks”.
“When humans evolved in tropical Africa, the average day length was 12 hours. Now hunter-gatherers spend only 30% of their waking hours gathering food, so 12 hours is a long time. But the farther north you go, the shorter the days get in winter , when food is especially scarce. Therefore, it made sense for Neanderthals and early humans to start gathering food as soon as there was light in which to work.” – he explains.
It will be recalled that the study showed that the genes of lice can shed light on the history of human migration.
Read also: A skull was found in China, which may belong to an unknown race of people
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