Neanderthals may have been wiped out by EAR INFECTIONS: Scientists say complications of the common..

dm ^ | 9/20/2019 | jack elsom

[RummyChick]

Ear infections likely killed off the Neanderthals, according to scientists who claim to have cracked the mystery surrounding the species' extinction.

While antibiotics are taken for granted in the modern world, a lack of sophisticated medicine 40,000 years ago is believed to have seen the archaic species suffer from the common childhood illness and then perish.

Moreover, Neanderthals were more prone to contracting an ear infection as they had smaller ears, providing a tighter space for bacteria to become clogged up.

This is believed to have led to breathing and hearing problems and pneumonia.

[xenia]

They just make stuff up.

[RetiredTexasVet]

It is so difficult to differentiate between science and speculation that is being published these days.

[tomkat]

Oughta be funny to hear Chris Stringer's take on this.

I find it highly doubtful that susceptibility to an ear infection could/would have caused a species-wide extinction.

< /old carpenter opining on paleoepidemiology >

[Verginius Rufus]

Maybe 23andMe should do a study to see if there is a correlation between the number of Neanderthal variants their customers have and their susceptibility to earaches.

[TalBlack]

I think scientists related tooth decay to high carb diets. Certain civilizations with high sea access had much less of it.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks fieldmarshaldj. This one is even more dumb than "Neandertals didn't eat their vegetables".

KEYWORDS: neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals

The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve
in local libraries

"Frayer'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]

[21twelve]

I wonder how many people today die due to untreated earaches?

[KC Burke]

No, no and no.

Everyone knows that such things are caused by only two things. Either Ancient Aliens or Chronic Gum Disease.

[ameribbean expat]

My favorite b.s. field is evolutionary psychology. The mountains of verifiable mythology generated is staggering. Turns out all the hippies became anthropologists.

[Sirius Lee]

Or STDS..................

No, the Neanderthals were wiped out by ennui.

It was so tragic, Gronk just laying there in his cave moaning: "Aw, what's the point?"

[Joe 6-pack]

I'm surprised nobody has referenced Doug Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

The enlightened people of the planet Golgafrincham created a ruse that the planet was doomed, and used it as a subterfuge to send the perceived useless people, "such as hairdressers and telephone sanitisers" off planet to be rid of them.

The stay behind population was subsequently wiped out by a disease spread by dirty telephones.

[Seruzawa]

Maybe... Could have... We believe...

How is anthropology different from theology?

[dsc]

Adams was really good at irony.

Service is one of my favorites, BTW. “The Quitter” was quite an encouragement during tough times.

[null and void]

I fear you just might be right.

[SunkenCiv]

Unidentified Flossing Objects could have saved them...

[Red Badger]

It was so tragic, Gronk just laying there in his cave moaning: "Aw, what's the point?"

WHUT?..................

[gleeaikin]

Among other things of interest and possible medical utility is the fact that most with European ancestry are 1 to 4% Neanderthal. Since they were around for at least 60,000 years some periods they might have had big noses and at others especially if young, small noses. I. think my husband had more than 4%. He had a man’s size when he was 13 which created issues about expectations and maturity which had troublesome results in later years. This is just one effect that might be predictable and have social utility.

[SunkenCiv]

Just curious, any way to get his DNA done, even by proxy (siblings, kids, etc)?

[Pelham]

Professor Samuel Márquez of the Downstate Health Sciences University, said: ‘It may sound far-fetched, but when we, for the first time, reconstructed the Eustachian tubes of Neanderthals, we discovered that they are remarkably similar to those of human infants.

‘Middle ear infections are nearly ubiquitous among infants because the flat angle of an infant’s Eustachian tubes is prone to retain the otitis media bacteria that cause these infections – the same flat angle we found in Neanderthals.’

In modern times, the Eustachian tubes in human children start to lengthen when they are around five years old and the angle becomes more acute.

This allows the ear to drain, all but eliminating these recurring infections beyond early childhood.

But unlike modern humans, the structure of the Eustachian tubes in Neanderthals did not change with age which meant these chronic ear infections persisted.

Dr Márquez said: ‘It’s not just the threat of dying of an infection. If you are constantly ill, you would not be as fit and effective in competing with your Homo sapien cousins for food and other resources.

‘In a world of survival of the fittest, it is no wonder that modern man, not Neanderthal, prevailed.’

Dr Richard Rosenfeld added: ‘This new and previously unknown understanding of middle ear function in Neanderthal is what allows us to make new inferences regarding the impact on their health and fitness.’

[SauronOfMordor]

Or perhaps diseases from Africa, when Homo Sapiens Sapiens expanded from Africa into Europe.