22 May 2006 19:30
Humans & chimpanzees may have split from a common ancestor more recently
A detailed analysis of human and chimp DNA suggests the lines finally diverged less than 5.4 million years ago. The finding, published in the journal Nature, is about 1-2 million years later than the fossils have indicated. A US team says its results hint at the possibility that interbreeding occurred between the two lines for thousands, even millions, of years.
1
(1 marks)
