welcome
CBS News

CBS News

Science

Science

Sahara desert, once lush and green, was home to mysterious human lineage, study says

CBS News
Summary
Nutrition label

88% Informative

Researchers from Germany 's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology studied 7,000-year-old mummies from Libya .

The mummies lived during the "African Humid Period ," when the Sahara desert was green and dotted with lakes and streams.

Researchers traced the mummies' Neandertal ancestry and found they have tenfold less DNA than people outside Africa , but more than sub-Saharan Africans .