Modern humans, Neanderthals shared earth for 1,000 years

ABC NEWSonline ^ | Thursday, September 1, 2005. 3:29pm (AEST)

[Getready]

In the brief article, the Professor says that there is
no evidence of Neanderthal genes in the 1,000 subjects
tested in Europe. It appears that there must be some
data points regarding Neanderthal genes, else what could be compare the modern data with? He would have to know what a
Neanderthal gene looks like to say that the new sample doesn't have one.
Plus, testing 1,000 subjects??? Out of maybe 300,000,000?
Sounds like a very small sampling. There could have been stratification of the gene pool, or combination, or even
mutation. (no?)
Finally if the more successful hominids conquered the Neanderthals,...wouldn't there have been some amount of
let's say "enjoying" the spoils of war, which sometimes has
included stealing their women???
P.S. the picture of reconstructed Neantherthal face looks
almost as bad as a super-skinny model...so maybe there was no interaction. Ha!

[adorno]

... and DNA tests on samples taken from 1,000 Europeans have failed to find any evidence of Neanderthal genes.

Obviously they haven't tested Chirac's DNA yet.

[Alouette]

The 13th Warrior

[PzLdr]

The title was "The Thirteenth Warrior"

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

In short, the indicators point to the likelihood that Homo sapiens crushed or ousted the Neanderthals in the fight to survive.

OK that does it... where do I go to get my reparations?

[CarrotAndStick]

LoL! The Neanderthals may be gone, but their operating system sure is popular amongst the Mooslimes. And they are badly in need of a major update!

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

You mean "The 13th Warrior."

[Tacis]

When Willie was president, didn't he offer an apology on behalf of all of us the the Neanderthals? The Neanderthals fate should, of course, be a lesson to all of us who see no purpose in the concept of affirmative action. Had the evil Republicans have had an effective affirmative action plan 28,000 years ago, we would still have a happy community of Neanderthal-Americans.

[PatrickHenry]

Interesting. I donno if it's for the evolution list. Maybe it is, as we're going into a weekend when threads are slow. Asking for input.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Chanting: "Neanderthals, Neanderthals! Can't make tools. Can't make fire." - Cromagnon Humor

[VadeRetro]

It appears that there must be some data points regarding Neanderthal genes, else what could be compare the modern data with? He would have to know what a Neanderthal gene looks like to say that the new sample doesn't have one.

He knows what Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA looks like. Two or more specimens have yielded up samples mutually consistent enough to allow some confidence. He does not know what Neanderthal nuclear DNA looks like. That's harder to recover and it hasn't happened so far. The typical eukaryotic cell has about 1000 mitochondria, whereas it only has one nucleus with some smallish number of chromosomes. We can hope nevertheless that such might be recovered someday. It would answer some questions. (And probably raise a few new ones.)

[shuckmaster]

I think the humans who came out of Africa 80,000 years ago stayed almost exclusively on the southern coast of Arabia/Asia until the ice started melting about 50,000 years ago before following post-ice rivers north into central Asia and then Europe. The same ice age probably decimated the Neanderthals who once sparsely covered Europe but were reduced to sw France by time modern human came in contact with them.What happened then is open to conjuncture

[shuckmaster]

A good old Neanderthal thread could be a good change of pace after all the crevo threads we've suffered lately.

[VadeRetro]

Finally if the more successful hominids conquered the Neanderthals,...wouldn't there have been some amount of let's say "enjoying" the spoils of war, which sometimes has included stealing their women???

There's some evidence for interbreeding, mainly some specimens which appear to show some mixing of traits. The Lagar Velho child is the best known example. All such claims are controversial right now.

More genetic evidence, especially nuclear genes, would be the ideal way to settle this.

[PatrickHenry]

All right. Oook, oook. I'm winding up the ping machine ...

[PatrickHenry]

The start of Darwin Central's Weekend Special:

EvolutionPing

A pro-evolution science list with over 300 names. See the list's explanation at my freeper homepage. Then FReepmail to be added or dropped.

[VadeRetro]

Darwin Central's Weekend Special

Stranded by gas prices? Bump a crevo thread this Labor Day Weekend!

[ml1954]

One intriguing school of thought is that the Neanderthals did not suddenly disappear off the map but gradually melded in with Homo sapiens culturally and possibly sexually.

Given human history and human nature, I vote for the genocide theory of the demise of the Neanderthals. Not intentional mind you. It just happened.

[Dionysius]

Hell, I'd kiss her (picture above) before I'd kiss Helen Thomas.

[Quark2005]

Given human history and human nature, I vote for the genocide theory of the demise of the Neanderthals. Not intentional mind you. It just happened.

I'm inclined to think you're right. Take a look at New Orleans - people of the same species can't live peacably together under primitive conditions; let alone peoples of two different species. I can't see Stone Age Europe as a place where "cultures melded" when people were still killing each other there en masse through the 1990's.