The ability to analyze genomes - sequences of DNA - has grown more and more sophisticated  Scientists are able to examine the biological past in finer detail and with greater accuracy  A new analysis of the genetic links between early humans and chimpanzees has led to a hypothesis that the two species diverged more recently than previous estimates indicated
This gives credence to a very startling new theory: the ancestors of humans and chimpanzees might have hybridized to produce the lineage from which modern humans eventually developed
Hybridized species combine the best of both lineages.