Genome sequence of a 45,000-year-old modern human from western Siberia.

We present the high-quality genome sequence of a ∼45,000-year-old modern human male from Siberia. This individual derives from a population that lived before-or simultaneously with-the separation of the populations in western and eastern Eurasia and carries a similar amount of Neanderthal ancestry as present-day Eurasians. However, the genomic segments of Neanderthal ancestry are substantially longer than those observed in present-day individuals, indicating that Neanderthal gene flow into the ancestors of this individual occurred 7,000-13,000 years before he lived. We estimate an autosomal mutation rate of 0.4 × 10(-9) to 0.6 × 10(-9) per site per year, a Y chromosomal mutation rate of 0.7 × 10(-9) to 0.9 × 10(-9) per site per year based on the additional substitutions that have occurred in present-day non-Africans compared to this genome, and a mitochondrial mutation rate of 1.8 × 10(-8) to 3.2 × 10(-8) per site per year based on the age of the bone.

First direct dating of a presumed Pleistocene hominid from China: AMS radiocarbon age of a femur from the Ordos Plateau.

Human remains from the Xarusgol Valley, Ordos Plateau, northwestern China, have been considered to date to the Late Pleistocene. In order to ascertain their true age, direct AMS (14)C dating of a femur collected in the early 1920s was conducted. The results demonstrate that the femur is very young, with one sample of 'post-bomb' age and the other sample c. 200 years old. This first direct dating of a Chinese fossil hominid underscores the need to apply the same methodology to other Chinese modern human fossils currently believed to be of Pleistocene age.