Ray, Just wondering if you'd seen the following, and what thoughts you
might have:

Liza
~~~~~~~~~
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               Scientists have succeeded in pulling out a bit of DNA
from a
               Neanderthal fossil for the second time. The sequence of
               mitochondrial DNA is about 3.5% different from the first
sample
               analyzed. This is the same difference found between
modern
               humans. Furthermore, the DNA from both specimens is not
               especially close to that found in modern Europeans. Thus,
modern
               Europeans may not have closer links to Neanderthals than
other
               groups, as some have suggested. If other fossils can
provide more
               DNA samples, it might be possible someday to study
Neanderthal
               population genetics, according to one commentator.


                          Reference: Ovchinnikov, I.V., Götherström, A.
,
                          Romanov, G.P. et al. 2000. Molecular analysis
of
                          Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus.
Nature
                          404(6777):490 -496.