The world outside of Africa was once split between two archaic human species. Neanderthals roamed Europe and the Middle East while Homo erectus dominated east Asia. At least that’s what anthropologists previously thought.

Now, anthropologist Svante Paabo from the Max Planek Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, has uncovered new evidence that is challenging what was once thought to be true about the predecessors of modern humans.

Anthropologists have generally thought that the Neanderthal’s eastern- most range ended in Uzbekistan. But Paabo’s team has unearthed fossils that contain Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA in the Altai Mountains, which are located 1,250 miles farther east than Uzbekistan.

This expansion puts Neanderthals well into southern Siberia, into the territory previously only associated with Homo erectus. Some experts believe Neanderthals might have traveled into Siberia during a warming period that made this region more accessible and habitable.

Paabo and his team of scientists have identified DNA from 13 European Neanderthals. If these wondering hunters reached Siberia, then scientists would not be surprised to find Neanderthal fossils even farther east.

“We now know that they are in the doorstep to Mongolia or even China, said Paabo. “So I would not be surprised if we one day find a Marco Polo Neanderthal.”

[Source: New York Times]