In a paper published in Genome Biology and Evolution, scientists suggest that genes from our oldest relatives could be responsible for the way we sleep. Though many Neanderthal genes have been lost to the winds of evolution, researchers think that for some people, their waking times might come straight from the Middle Paleolithic age.
Only about 4% of human genes today come from Neanderthals. That’s because they’re a different species to modern humans, and while there was some crossover between the two, Neanderthal genes have mostly faded over time.
The researchers found out that modern humans and Neanderthals had different genes that affected people’s circadian rhythm, or “body clock.”
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They found that not only did plenty of people still carry the Neanderthal variant, but they also discovered that those with the gene tended to be morning people.
The researchers suggest that it could be due to the light and lifestyles in which Neanderthals lived. It’s not so much that getting up early was good for Neanderthals, they say ― but adapting quickly to changing light levels could have been helpful.
