An analysis of 3,800-year-old Yersinia pestis isolates pushed the advent of flea-based plague transmission back to around 4,000 years ago, earlier than once proposed.
Independent research teams identified and sequenced hepatitis B strains going back thousands of years from samples in Europe, uncovering now-extinct lineages.
The researchers estimated that the newly sequenced late Neanderthals likely split from the lineage leading to much older Altai Neanderthal roughly 150,000 years ago.
By sequencing a handful of individuals who lived in Morocco some 13,900 to 15,100 years ago, investigators found clues to past population mergers in North Africa.
Sequence data for ancient and modern individuals in Remote Oceania and beyond suggests early populations were replaced without corresponding language changes.
Researchers hope the genomes of the Mexican axolotl and the Schmidtea mediterranea worms will facilitate further studies on the processes behind regeneration.
