If we share a common ancestor, and we accept that vicariance is a long drawn out process by which intermediate populations are eventually eliminated, then yes, it makes perfect sense to see evidence of prior gene flow between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalis.
Yeah, it's been obvious to me since 2006 that this must have happened, but a lot of anthropologists didn't have the biological chops to see why no gene flow was extremely unlikely. It's good to have this settled. In fairness I think the magnitude (Eurasians ~4% Neandertal) surprised just about everyone.
Well, unless the speciation event is sudden, it happens between /all/ incipient species. This was part of Darwin's many contributions in On the Origin of Species, to hypothesize that speciation can come about when members of a species polarize in range (allopatry) or habit (sympatry) and the intermediates are eliminated. In the case of Homo neanderthalis, this would be sympatric speciation. Unfortunatly the neanderthals are no longer with us.
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many thanks for posting this!
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Told you so.
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