These Baboons Borrowed a Third of Their Genes From Their Cousins

upstart writes:

Fifty years of monitoring suggested that baboon hybrids manage just fine, but new DNA evidence reveals that some of their borrowed genes came at a cost:

New genetic analyses of wild baboons in southern Kenya reveals that most of them carry traces of hybridization in their DNA. As a result of interbreeding, about a third of their genetic makeup consists of genes from another, closely-related species.

The study took place in a region near Kenya's Amboseli National Park, where yellow baboons occasionally meet and intermix with their anubis baboon neighbors that live to the northwest.

[...] By all accounts, the offspring of these unions manage just fine. Fifty years of observations turned up no obvious signs that hybrids fare any worse than their counterparts. Some even fare better than expected: baboons that carry more anubis DNA in their genome mature faster and form stronger social bonds, and males are more successful at winning mates.

But new genetic findings published Aug. 5 in the journal Science suggest that appearances can be deceiving.

Even modern humans carry around a mix of genes from now-extinct relatives. As much as 2% to 5% of the DNA in our genomes points to past hybridization with the Neanderthals and Denisovans, ancient hominins our ancestors encountered and mated with as they migrated out of Africa into Europe and Asia. Those liaisons left a genetic legacy that still lingers today, affecting our risk of depression, blood clots, even tobacco addiction or complications from COVID-19.

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