New tools identify key evolutionary advantages from ancient hominid interbreeding

Neanderthals. Denisovans. Homo sapiens. Around 50,000 years ago, these hominids not only interbred, but in some cases, modern humans may have also received a special evolutionary advantage from doing so. As more and more data from archaic genomes are becoming available, scientists have become keenly interested in pinpointing these regions to better understand the potential benefits that may have been bestowed to us.