Researchers announced Thursday that they have sequenced the mitochondrial DNA of a Neanderthal, using genetic material recovered from a 38,000-year-old bone.

Scientists said the breakthrough, published in the August 8th issue of the scientific journal Cell, will help resolve lingering questions about the genealogical relationship between the prehistoric hominids and modern man.

The study marks the first time scientists have succeeded in mapping a perfect genetic sequence from ancient DNA.

"For the first time, we've built a sequence from ancient DNA that is essentially without error," said Richard Green of Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

Research suggests that the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and humans lived about 660,000 years ago.

The Neanderthal mitochondrial genome presented in the study is a useful forerunner for the sequencing of the complete Neanderthal nuclear genome, the researchers said, adding that this project is already well underway.

Neanderthals are widely believed to be the hominid form most closely related to present-day humans, although the precise relationship remains unclear, researchers said.

Researchers said the new genetic sequencing reveals that Neanderthals had fewer evolutionary changes than Homo Sapiens, which may have made natural selection less effective.

Ultimately, scientists said they hope to get complete DNA sequencing information predating the Ice Age, as they hunt for evidence that Neanderthal populations were larger in the past.