Blow to Neanderthal breeding theory

BBC ^ | Tuesday, 13 May, 2003

[martianagent]

I have no doubt that interbreeding likely took place, but could the offspring then have been sterile?

That might be the answer to it, that or the offspring died in childhood. The DNA evidence says we're not related to the neanderthals and the one child skeleton appears to be the only evidence indicating crossbreeding might have ever taken place. You'd expect a lot more than that.

[Bernard Marx]

No human features in the photo you posted.

[fishtank]

I've been reading a book by Jack Cuozzo, an orthodontist, who did X-ray cranigraphs of Neanderthal skulls from France and Britian.

He's convinced that Neanderthals were merely long lived normal humans - by long lived he means several hundred year old persons - consistent with Genesis.

[twigs]

I'd want a larger sample size before jumping to any conclusions.

Agreed. I know people today with Neanderthal features, but it doesn't mean they have Neanderthal DNA (I assume).

[TheWillardHotel]

Oh, but the neanderthals are not gone.... no
they now live in California.

[onedoug]

They live just across the street.

[Aric2000]

Let's get you guys straight on this right now, the creationists that is.

Scientists know that Neanderthals and early human ancestors were distinct species, even though they lived during the same period.

Yep, that's pretty simple, we KNOW that they were distinct species.

The results, they say, indicate that Neanderthals made little or no contribution to the genes of modern humans.

Indicate, you see the word INDICATE, it is saying that they are not positive, but the results are INDICATIVE of that assumption.

Now, let us get on with the discussion, shall we?

[jalisco555]

A skeleton uncovered in Portugal appeared to show both Neanderthal and human features.

So where are the human features?

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Personally, I would have thought that it should be obvious of the contributions of the Neanderthals to the gene pool from looking at Carville. Listening to him is another matter. More like listening to Foghorn Leghorn.

[Snowy]

[G-Bear]

"He's convinced that Neanderthals were merely long-lived normal humans..."

You mean THAT'S what we have to look forward to?!?

[Sentis]

I agree the Europeans are actively working to prove they aren't related to Neanderthal. Their Neanderthal DNA samples are notorious for being very small samples or even flawed DNA samples that have been contaminated. As an American Archaeologist I am very leery of anything an archaeologist in Europe states.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

One negative is sufficient to disprove an hypothesis. If you claim that all baseball bats are yellow, the occurence of even on red baseball bat disproves your assertion. [Excludes the trivial case where you use the trait as a defining characteristic, i.e, "If it's not yellow then it's not a baseball bat."]

[Right Wing Professor]

I've been reading a book by Jack Cuozzo, an orthodontist, who did X-ray cranigraphs of Neanderthal skulls from France and Britian. He's convinced that Neanderthals were merely long lived normal humans - by long lived he means several hundred year old persons - consistent with Genesis.

That's funny. My plumber thinks we're descended from space aliens.

[sheik yerbouty]

That specimen can barely be called homomoid, let alone hominid or neanderthal. Clearly it is the "missing stink".

[maro]

Yeah, I suppose that is possible, but wouldn't the daughter or granddaughter of such a union likely be attractive to Cro-Mag men? You have to posit that every line with Neanderthal genes had women who were utterly abhorrent to Cro-Magnon men. That seems unlikely.

[gcruse]

He's convinced that Neanderthals were merely long lived normal humans - by long lived he means several hundred year old persons - consistent with Genesis.

Oh yeah, that works.  The older we get, the heavier our bone mass
becomes.  Except that it doesn't.  But that's a minor flaw,
with the solution somewhere else in the Bible.  It's just a matter
of time until someone finds it.

[Right Wing Professor]

Yeah, I suppose that is possible, but wouldn't the daughter or granddaughter of such a union likely be attractive to Cro-Mag men? You have to posit that every line with Neanderthal genes had women who were utterly abhorrent to Cro-Magnon men. That seems unlikely.

Wouldn't matter. Mitochondrial DNA is passed only down the female line. Barring mutations, your mitochondrial DNA is identical with that of your mother, your maternal grandmother, your maternal grandmother's mother, etc.. So if neanderthal man mated with cro-magnon woman; their daughter mated with another neanderthal, and their daughter mated with yet another neanderthal, despite the offspring being only 1/8 cromagnon, the mitochondrial DNA would be 100% cro-magnon.

That's why I'm very suspicious of any population genetic conclusion based on mitochondrial DNA. Population genetics assumes a 'gene pool' where genes intermingle. Mitochondrial DNA doesn't do that.

[maro]

I said that wrong. Wouldn't a son or grandson of such a union have a fancy for Neanderthal women?

[gcruse]

Indicate, you see the word INDICATE, it is saying that they are not positive, but the results are INDICATIVE of that assumption.

Now, let us get on with the discussion, shall we?

Yes, the APPARENT movement of the planets
INIDICATES the earth orbits the sun, rather
than vice versa.  But that's just an assumption.
We can never really know, can we?