Posted on 04/06/2012 10:21:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Focusing on mitochondrial DNA sequences from 13 Neandertal individuals, including a new sequence from the site of Valdegoba cave in northern Spain, the research team found some surprising results. When they started looking at the DNA, a clear pattern emerged. Neandertal individuals from Western Europe that were older than 50,000 years and individuals from sites in western Asia and the Middle East showed a high degree of genetic variation, on par with what might be expected from a species that had been abundant in an area for a long period of time. In fact, the amount of genetic variation was similar to what characterizes modern humans as a species. In contrast, Neandertal individuals from Western Europe that were younger than 50,000 years show an extremely reduced amount of genetic variation, less even than the present-day population of remote Iceland.
These results suggest that Western European Neandertals went through a demographic crisis, a population bottleneck that severely reduced their numbers, leaving Western Europe largely empty of humans for a period of time. The demographic crisis seems to coincide with a period of extreme cold in Western Europe. Subsequently, this region was repopulated by a small group of individuals from a surrounding area. The geographic origin of this source population is not clear, but it may be possible to pinpoint it further with additional study...
"This is just the latest example of how studies of ancient DNA are providing new insights into an important and previously unknown part of Neandertal history," Quam said. "Ancient DNA is complementary to anthropological studies focusing on the bony anatomy of the skeleton, and these kinds of results are only possible with ancient DNA studies. It's exciting to think about what will turn up next."
(Excerpt) Read more at discovere.binghamton.edu ...
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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We can reasonably expect the recent usual spam in 5, 4, 3...To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127] |
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Apparently the Neandertals had their own version of obamacare.
ping
Is that the Neanderthal spelling?
“The demographic crisis seems to coincide with a period of extreme cold in Western Europe.”
If only they had practiced a little more Neandertal-made global warming, they could have saved themselves.
Ice Age?
People left for warmer climes?
I believe our cousins across the pond spell it that way.
And these guys prolly didn't even have the courtesy to Vote for the RAT party in return -- literally.
:-)
Probably the Clan of the Cave Bear - they knew how to survive cold weather...
Is that yes or no?
Ping for later
Waiting for the Hollywood monster pictures to be posted again...
Global Cooling got them. Must have been the inability to produce greenhouse gasses.
Ours is genetically dated to 70K years ago.
I wonder if a larger sample size of homo sapiens neanderthalensis would give a similar date, and why...
IMHO these supposed bottlenecks are illusory, the result of drawing thick conclusions from thin data.
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