Baffling 400,000-Year-Old Clue to Human Origins

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/science/at-400000-years-oldest-human-dna-yet-found-raises-new-mysteries.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=SC_A4Y_20131204&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=%201385874000000&bicmet=%201388638800000&_r=0


Scientists have found the oldest DNA evidence yet of humans’ biological history. But instead of neatly clarifying human evolution, the finding is adding new mysteries.

In a paper in the journal Nature, scientists reported Wednesday that they had retrieved ancient human DNA from a fossil dating back about 400,000 years, shattering the previous record of 100,000 years.

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