David Caramelli

TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse genome-wide data from 51 Eurasians from ~45,000-7,000 years ago and find that the proportion of Neanderthal DNA decreased from 3-6% to around 2%, consistent with natural selection against Neanderthal variants in modern humans.

TL;DR: This work uses mitochondrial genome sequences from ten securely dated ancient modern humans spanning 40,000 years as calibration points for the mitochondrial clock, thus yielding a direct estimate of the mitochondrial substitution rate and implies a separation of non-Africans from the most closely related sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNAs that occurred less than 62-95 kya.

TL;DR: Genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans is presented, finding limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and excludes migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions.

TL;DR: It is shown that southeastern Europe continued to be a nexus between east and west after the arrival of farmers, with intermittent genetic contact with steppe populations occurring up to 2,000 years earlier than the migrations from the steppe that ultimately replaced much of the population of northern Europe.

TL;DR: The shotgun-sequencing of ancient DNA from five specimens of Neanderthal calcified dental plaque is described and the characterization of regional differences in Neanderthal ecology is described, suggesting that meat consumption contributed to substantial variation within Neanderthal microbiota.