How do I interpret my Neanderthal and Denisovan results?

There is a lot of information included in the Neanderthal and Denisovan upgrade, here is how to read each part.

Neanderthal and Denisovan scores - how many alleles (letters in your DNA) you share with each species. For Neanderthal ancestry this is commonly between 250 and 400 for someone with no African ancestry, and for Denisovan most people will see a score of up to 400.

Your percentage value - what percentage of your own DNA has come from either your Neanderthal or your Denisovan ancestors.

Most similar sample - This will give you more information about the Neanderthal sample that has the most similar genes to your own. Clicking on the ‘i’ symbol at the top right will open a pop-up with more information about that sample.

Your Percentiles- These scores are different to the percentage value. We have calculated the average percentage value for a number of different populations and then compared your own percentage value to each of these averages. 

Each blue bar represents the proportion of the population group your score is higher than. For example, if the blue bar is to the far left it would mean that your score is less than all the people in this group. 

On the other hand, if the blue bar is all the way to the right your score is greater than all the people in this group. 

If the bar is in the middle, then your score sits in the middle of the scores for people in the group.

Traits - A number of traits found in modern humans can be attributed in some measure to archaic human DNA. We can use your DNA to predict whether you are likely to have a number of these traits, such as Altitude Adaptation, Sleeping Patterns, Immune System Benefits, and others.

Map - Seen at the top of this page, the map will show you where the remains for each species have been found - blue for Neanderthal and pink for Denisovan. You will see a lot more blue dots than pink, because far more Neanderthal remains have been found over the years! The site where remains of both species have been found is orange, and the site where the sample closest to your own DNA was found is in red.