(NewsNation) — People who wake up early in the morning may have inherited Neanderthal genetics to thank for it, according to a new study.

According to the study published Thursday in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, a lot of it has to do with the elevated latitudes in Europe and Asia that Neanderthals inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years.

The study analyzed DNA from the standard human genome, its Neanderthal counterpart, and that of another primitive human that was closely related to Neanderthals.

“When the ancestors of modern Eurasians migrated out of Africa and interbred with Eurasian archaic hominins, namely, Neanderthals and Denisovans, DNA of archaic ancestry integrated into the genomes of anatomically modern humans,” according to the study. “This process potentially accelerated adaptation to Eurasian environmental factors, including reduced ultraviolet radiation and increased variation in seasonal dynamics.”

For the study of the circadian rhythms of Neanderthals and Denisovans, the study focused on nearly 250 genes that regulate the body’s clock. Those were then compared to the versions of the genes in the extinct hominins to the ones in modern humans.

The researchers found over 1,000 mutations that were unique only to living humans or to Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Until recently, the genetic legacy from ancient humans was invisible because scientists were limited to what they could glean from the shape and size of bones. But there has been a steady stream of discoveries from ancient DNA, an area of study pioneered by Nobel Prize winner Svante Paabo who first pieced together a Neanderthal genome.

Advances in finding and interpreting ancient DNA have allowed them to see things like genetic changes over time to better adapt to environments or through random chance.

It’s even possible to figure out how much genetic material people from different regions carry from the ancient relatives our predecessors encountered.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.