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In 2015, a paleoanthropology team discovered jaw remains of a roughly 42,000-year-old Neanderthal in France.

Over the next several years, the team, led by Ludovic Slimak, found more of the Neanderthal’s remains and began to analyze its genome. Despite its proximity to other groups of Neanderthals and the era’s modern humans, the lineage of the specimen, dubbed “Thorin,” found by Slimak managed to stay totally isolated from groups of other early beings.