Early modern humans and Neanderthals probably did not interbreed, according to evidence collected by Italian scientists.

Researchers have long considered Neanderthals and the humans that lived in Europe 30,000 years ago as distinct species, even though they lived side by side.

However, there is controversy over theories that Neanderthals made a contribution to the gene pool of people living today.

This has been fuelled by a skeleton uncovered in Portugal that appears to show both Neanderthal and human features.

The latest research, from the University of Ferrara in Italy, compared genetic material from Neanderthals, Cro-Magnon humans and 21st-Century Europeans.

The DNA from the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons was taken from their bones.

The genetic material was extracted from cell structures called mitochondria rather than the nucleus.

The scientists found that while, unsurprisingly, modern humans show clear genetic signs of their Cro-Magnon ancestry, no such link between Neanderthal DNA and modern European DNA could be established.

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