Posted on 08/17/2012 9:37:26 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Recent research strikes a blow to the theory that humans and Neanderthals interbred.
THE GIST Studies over the last two years suggest that Neanderthals vanished more than 30,000 years ago. This would mean that early humans and Neanderthals could not have interbred. enlarge
Over the last two years, several studies have suggested that Homo sapiens got it on with Neanderthals, an hominid who lived in parts of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East for up to 300,000 years but vanished more than 30,000 years ago.
The evidence for this comes from fossil DNA, which shows that on average Eurasians and Asians share between one and four per cent of their DNA with Neanderthals, but Africans almost none.
But a new study by scientists at Britain's University of Cambridge says the shared DNA came from a shared ancestor, not from "hybridization" or reproduction between the two hominid species.
Common ancestor It begins with a common ancestors of Neanderthals and H. sapiens who lived around half a million years ago in parts of Africa and Europe.
Around 300,000 to 350,000 years ago, the European population and the African population of this hominid became separated.
Living in genetic isolation, the European range evolved bit by bit into Neanderthals, while the African range eventually became H. sapiens, which expanded in waves out of Africa from around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
Neither did the new article cited have ANYTHING to do with when Neanderthal disappeared.
It was a reanalysis of DNA data that proposed that the population that left Africa shared a more recent common ancestor with the Neanderthal population than the populations that stayed behind in Africa.
While of interest, the finding is hardly conclusive; and the authors language says that via their model there was “less” interbreeding that went on - not that it didn’t happen at all.
That is why journalists should have an actual scientist edit their copy before they send it out - besides not really understanding the subject and having a sensationalist agenda - most are absolute idiots.
Courtesy www.themandus.org
What?? Fossils of modern man(us) have been found that are 50-100,000 years old. No, not a missing link but people who developed agricultural skills starting around 50,000 years ago.
A hobbit and a red headed neanderthal lass?
The same ones who routinely write articles saying that animals “make love”.
Funny you should mention that.. started getting hair on my back (never realized I had any there until I had an itch and reached back to scratch it.. and there was patch.. probably been there for a decade, and I didn’t notice... checked the other side.. one there too :p)..
Wondering how much a wax job would cost here now.. hehe..
LOL.
seems to indicate comes when a society becomes grossly perverted.
Then somewhere there’s got to be some giants running around!
Say that we have population A - this population gave rise to all human and all neanderthal populations.
Population A gave rise to population B and C and D and E and F. Populations B and C were closely related, interbred, and shared common ancestry with each other more than either does with D, E and F.
Population B leaves Africa and is the founding population that gave rise to Neanderthal.
Populations C, D, E, and F stay around Africa.
Later population C leaves Africa and is the founding population for all non-African humans. Population D, E and F stay in Africa.
Population C that gave rise to all non-African humans STARTED OUT more closely related to population B, and needed no interbreeding with population B to be more similar.
Population B dies out, leaving only populations C, D, E, and F - the founding populations of all modern human population groups.
The similarity of populations B and C could have come about because they started out more similar due to them sharing a more recent common ancestor. OR it could have come about because there was a bit of interbreeding between populations B and C. OR it could be a combination of both scenarios.
oh. so it was a rare ancestor;-)
Sure - no actual data supports Neanderthal looking like that - but if that is what floats your boat - go on with your bad self!
Good job with that...much better than my attempt.
ok..i suppose being erectus helped facilitate all that mating...
NEVER figured that one out...
30,000 year age difference. Now THAT’S what I call a Cougar!
As my grandma might have said: “Couldn’t hurt.”
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