The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, shows "that whenever Neanderthals and modern humans have mated, there has been a preference for male Neanderthals and female modern humans, as opposed to the other way around," said author Alexander Platt, who studies genetics at the University of Pennsylvania.
We knew that these lineages across the coast of California were really different from each other and had been separated for a very long time," said Jochim, a researcher in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis. The spiders pose no risk to humans, Jochim said. Though our activities can pose a risk to them. "These spiders are not scary," she said. "They mind their own business and [generally] stay in their burrows ... They live in a really important and fragile ecosystem - the coastal dunes of California. So, it's really important to protect their habitat.