Evidence suggests Neanderthal blood protein may be part of reason for their demise
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A team of paleoanthropologists and geneticists from Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, EFS, ADES has found evidence of what may have been a contributing factor to the decline of Neanderthals. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group describes how they conducted genetic sequencing of three hominid gene populations to learn more about their red blood cell antigens and what they learned by doing so.
Prior research has shown that Neanderthals, along with other human relatives, went extinct thousands of years ago, leaving modern humans as the only population to survive to modern times. Despite a significant amount of research looking into the reasons for the demise of the Neanderthal, modern science still does not have the answer. In this new effort, the team in France took a new approach—looking at their red blood antigens to find out if they may have had differences from modern humans that left them vulnerable to disease from which they could not recover.
The work by the team involved sequencing the genes of two types of early human relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, and comparing them with the sequences from the human ancestor, Homo sapiens. More specifically, they looked at the genes responsible for coding the production of sugars and proteins known as antigens found on the surfaces of red blood cells.
The researchers note that some such antigens are responsible for the categorization of the ABO blood typing system. Others, known as Rh antigens, are responsible for the "negative" and "positive" attributes assigned to each type. The researchers note that red blood cells also host many more antigens, some of which cannot be categorized easily but still play an important role in human health.
In their work, the team looked at the Rh blood types for the three types of hominids. In so doing, they found some major differences. Neanderthals, they discovered, had an Rh type that still exists in some humans but very rarely, called RhD. They also noted that RhD is not compatible with other variants found in either Homo sapiens or Denisovans.
Such an incompatibility, they note, would have likely led to hemolytic disease in offspring if a Homo sapiens or Denisova male were to mate with a Neanderthal female—a result that would have led to a host of health problems that would have prevented the offspring from maturing and reproducing. If such a practice became widespread, they suggest, it could have been a contributing factor to the demise of Neanderthals.
More information: Stéphane Mazières et al, Rapid change in red cell blood group systems after the main Out of Africa of Homo sapiens, Scientific Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-83023-0
Journal information: Scientific Reports
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