Posted on 08/22/2018 1:34:01 PM PDT by BenLurkin
DNA extracted from bone fragments found in the cave show the girl was the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.
The discovery, reported in Nature, gives a rare insight into the lives of our closest ancient human relatives. Neanderthals and Denisovans were humans like us, but belonged to different species.
"We knew from previous studies that Neanderthals and Denisovans must have occasionally had children together," says Viviane Slon, researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig, Germany.
"But I never thought we would be so lucky as to find an actual offspring of the two groups."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Miscegenation.
If those Neanderthal fathers keep letting their daughters hook up with Denisovans, the whole Neanderthal race is going to die out.
Mark my words - this isn’t going to end well for the Neanderthals.
Geez, this is all in “The Clan of the Cave Bear” book series. Everyone knows this.
So this is why Senator Elizabeth Warren does not want to take a DNA Test?
But she was a Democrat from the day she died.
If they bred and had fertile offspring, then, by definition, they were not separate species.
Not a whole lot of evidence for Denisovans, but it’s there (a small finger bone and three teeth):
So far, the fossils of four distinct Denisovans from Denisova Cave have been identified through their DNA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denisovan#Fossils
Many crossbred offspring are not sterile, often including female mules.
Since this new sample was taken from a bone fragment discovered by a Russian archaeologist, I am even more skeptical.
Russian scientists do not have a great reputation for keeping samples uncontaminated.
Example - the Russian Antarctica deep well into a pristine lake thousands of feet under the ice.
American and European scientists take years to drill such wells. The Russians drilled their well in less than a month, and their job site was completely filthy.
Same Genus, different Species. Example. Lions and Tigers breed together. Produce fertile litter. Litter breeds with another Lion or Tiger. Produces a Litigon.
I supposed moochele jokes are out, right?
I do not buy this. How many definitions are there for “human”?
Jean Auel got it right in Clan of Cave Bear.
bttt
“oh great, he brought home a Neanderthal”
“If they bred and had fertile offspring, then, by definition, they were not separate species.”
Having fertile offspring is a major characteristic of a distinct species, but not the only factor.
Cattle and buffalo breed well, and are different species
Dogs and coyotes breed well with fertile offsprint
False killer whale and bottle-nose dolphins
Domestic cats and lots of different kinds of wild cats breed
Grizzly bears and polar bears have viable offspring
Etc.
Or a Neanderthal gal.
Some species can mix without sterile results.
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