scientists said on monday a jawbone unearthed in romania , of a man who lived about 40,000 years ago , boasts the most neanderthal ancestry ever seen in a member of our species .
harvard medical school geneticist david reich said 6 to 9 percent of this individual 's genome derived from a neanderthal ancestor .
we show that one of the very first modern humans that is known from europe had a neanderthal ancestor just four to six generations back in his family tree , " said geneticist svante pääbo of germany 's max planck institute for evolutionary anthropology . "
one of oase 1 's fourth- to sixth - degree relatives was a
one of the earliest modern humans in europe , asia the jawbone of a human who lived between 42,000 and 37,000 years ago showed some neanderthal features .
washington you may not know it , but you probably have some neanderthal relative was so close to the modern human on the family tree that it could have been the equivalent of a great - great - grandparent , the research suggests .
credit : mpi f. evolutionary anthropology paabo the researchers chose to study oase 1 jawbone showed some neanderthal characteristics .
a jawbone from oase 1 , an early modern human found in peștera cu oase ( " cave with bones " ) in southwestern romania in 2002 .
anatomically modern humans populated europe between 45,000 and 35,000 years ago .