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Do you carry Neanderthal DNA? The shape of your skull may tell
FoxNews.com ^ | Dec 14, 2018 | Charles Q. Choi Live Science Contributor | LiveScience

Posted on 12/15/2018 7:51:23 AM PST by ETL

The shape of your brain may say a lot about the Neanderthal in you.

New research has found that modern humans carrying certain genetic fragments from our closest extinct relatives may have more oblong brains and skulls than other people.

Modern humans possess unique, relatively globular skulls and brains. In contrast, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, Neanderthals, have the elongated skulls and brains that are typical of most primates.

Previous research had suggested these contrasting skull shapes might reflect differences in the size of various brain regions in modern humans and Neanderthals, and how these brain areas were wired together. "However, brain tissue doesn't fossilize, so the underlying biology has remained elusive," co-lead study author Philipp Gunz, a paleoanthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, told Live Science.

To help solve this mystery, scientists first took CT (computed tomography) scans of seven fossil Neanderthal skulls and 19 modern human skulls. They developed imprints of the interiors of the skulls' braincases and measured their roundness.

Next, the researchers analyzed nearly 4,500 modern humans for whom they had both genetic data and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of their brains.

"We reasoned that if we could identify specific Neanderthal DNA fragments in a large enough sample of living humans, we would be able to test whether any of these fragments push towards a less globular brain shape, allowing us to zoom in on genes that might be important for this trait," senior study author Simon Fisher, a neurogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, told Live Science.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Science
KEYWORDS: asimonfisher; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; philippgunz; phrenologists; phrenology; simonfisher
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To: ETL
Neanderthals were probably overwhelmed and gradually absorbed into a larger gene pool, like aborigines in Australia are being (Over just a few generations or centuriess).

Laz would probably have hitten it, were he alive then.


61 posted on 12/15/2018 11:57:01 AM PST by BeauBo
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To: ETL
Neanderthals were more commonly redheads, as compared to modern humans. Here is a more recent representation, that incorporates more current forensic reconstruction and genetic analysis techniques.


62 posted on 12/15/2018 12:03:10 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: BeauBo

Neander chicks are easy.


63 posted on 12/15/2018 12:04:31 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: BeauBo
Image result for caveman
64 posted on 12/15/2018 12:06:12 PM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: Sacajaweau

pretty sure he is equine


65 posted on 12/15/2018 12:09:24 PM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
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To: ETL

In the case of that proto-babe (post#64), the question is not “Would you hit it?”, but rather “Could you ever stop?”


66 posted on 12/15/2018 1:12:09 PM PST by BeauBo
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To: BeauBo

I worked with a young girl that looked just like that a couple years ago. Kind of a “butter face” but a very sweet and funny smart girl. Makes you wonder about those Neanderthals.


67 posted on 12/15/2018 2:50:40 PM PST by Tailback
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To: Sacajaweau

“Sounds like John Kerry is even more neanderthal than we thought.”

I think Kerry’s problem is that he got so scared while he was (briefly) in Viet Nam that he traded his soul to Satan for three woundless purple hearts.


68 posted on 12/15/2018 3:11:21 PM PST by dsc (Our system of government cannot survive one-party control of communications.)
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To: Cowboy Bob
The ancestors of the Neanderthals would have lived in Africa, but would have moved out to the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia before "anatomically modern" humans first appeared in Africa.

23andMe claims to be to identify DNA inherited from Neanderthals in the samples it tests. Supposedly most people, other than those who are 100% of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, have some Neanderthal DNA--Asians more than Europeans.

I think there are Barbary apes in Gibraltar, which is in Europe--they are actually monkeys, not apes.

69 posted on 12/15/2018 3:43:18 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: ETL


"Bad To The Bone"

Cube-Head Charley
(youtube video)

70 posted on 12/15/2018 4:49:50 PM PST by Songcraft
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To: Reily

What show was this? It doesn’t show up in the app.


71 posted on 12/15/2018 6:23:54 PM PST by Crucial
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To: susannah59
putting babies on their backs to sleep is promoted.

After heartily ignoring this aggressive, ominous and obnoxious assertion with twelve babies who all slept well and never got earaches or any other sickness, I'm convinced it's part of a conspiracy to make people hate rearing children from day one.

72 posted on 12/15/2018 7:55:26 PM PST by Theophilus (Make America Grateful Again)
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To: Crucial

The link worked when I tried it!

All the episodes are now YouTube.


73 posted on 12/15/2018 8:09:49 PM PST by Reily
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To: Reily

But what is the name of the show?


74 posted on 12/15/2018 9:29:55 PM PST by Crucial
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To: Crucial

Cavemen - used the old GEICO caveman TV ad & turned it into a TV show. In fact the GEICO caveman is a character in the show. Maurice - a sort of playboy “caveman-about-town” ! All wickedly funny! Well at least to me!


75 posted on 12/15/2018 9:35:04 PM PST by Reily
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To: ETL

The only people living who don’t have Neanderthal DNA are sub-Saharan Africans. In general, the whiter you are, the more Neanderthal you carry.


76 posted on 12/16/2018 7:15:24 AM PST by Paal Gulli
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To: SunkenCiv; blam; All

Once again, thanks for all the information you bring to us science hobbyists. Cheers and Merry Christmas


77 posted on 12/17/2018 12:31:03 AM PST by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
Fa la la la la, la la, la la. :^)

78 posted on 12/17/2018 12:37:58 AM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
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To: RedStateRocker; SunkenCiv; Fred Nerks; blam; All

Frankly, that makes perfect sense. It is now believed that Neanderthal may have had pale skin, and frequently blue eyes and red or blond hair. During the Ice Ages this would have enabled them to live in the far north and still absorb enough Vitamin D from the sun on their skin to grow pelvic bones that were wide enough to allow young to be born. There was a recent article about a finding of a British man 10,000 years old who appeared to have dark skin. However, he lived in Cornwall which nowhere is more than 20 miles from the sea. Whole small fish are a perfect source of Vitamin D. Modern humans living far from the sea were more likely to bear live young if their females were fair and light skinned with broad hips. Thus all the fuss about blond, blue-eyed, full hipped sexy women.

How high were the percentages? My late husband had a number of what I suspect were Neanderthal traits, and I suspect he was more than 4%. One day I will have myself and 2 sons tested and see if we can approximate his percentage.


79 posted on 12/17/2018 12:42:27 AM PST by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin

Cue “Pale Blue Eyes”...


80 posted on 12/17/2018 1:08:53 AM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
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