Posted on 02/25/2006 5:11:22 AM PST by ThreePuttinDude
LONDON Neanderthals in Europe were killed off by the advance of modern humans thousands of years earlier than previously believed, losing a competition for food and shelter, according to a scientific study published Wednesday.
The research uses advances in radiocarbon dating to revise understanding of early humans, suggesting they colonized Europe more rapidly and coexisted for a much shorter period with genetic ancestors.
Paul Mellars, professor of prehistory and human evolution at the University of Cambridge and author of the study, said Neanderthals the species of the Homo genus that lived in Europe and western Asia from around 230,000 years ago to around 29,000 years ago succumbed much more readily to competition.
"The two sides were competing for the same territories, the same animals and fuel supplies and occupying the same cave spaces. With that kind of competition, the Neanderthals were always going to come out as the losers," said Mellars, whose paper was published in the journal Nature.
Modern humans those anatomically the same as people today were also better equipped to deal with a 6 degree Celsius (11 Fahrenheit) fall in temperatures around 40,000 years ago.
"Because they had better clothing, better technology(??) and a better mastery of fire, the humans were equipped to deal with it," Mellars said.
Mellars used the results of two recent studies of radiocarbon dating a process of assessing age by counting radioactive decay of carbon in materials to refine dates determined from fossils, bone fragments and other physical evidence that relates to the spread of humans.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Sorry, working today and don't have time to play games.
I'm not aware of the US or Russia or China or Britain or France having Cobalt in their nuclear weapons...
And no one else has any quantity of nukes.
The US and Russia no longer have any Fusion weapons (Hydrogen bombs) and the rest never made any....
You never heard of .... the Doomsday Machine? The technology required is easily within the means of even the smallest nuclear power -- it requires only the will to do so.
Mongoloid Skull
Negroid Skull
Australian Aborigine
Caucasoid Skull
I bookmarked the site...it's one way to get a head.
Yeah--and the machete'd skull too.
Thanks!
sure thing, Robert....
I just lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve those boards you've been listening to.....
Used to do a lot of that in grad school.
They are not originals, but museum quality reproductions...the Aborigines do have impressive brow ridges, eh?
About seven years ago I swear I read a research journal article that basically discussed how mixed aborigine/caucasian pregnancies had far, far higher odds of miscarriage than unmixed pregnancy or mixed pregnancy of other ethnic groups. If that wasn't a hallucination on my part, then that would suggest a reduced genetic compatibility and has some intriguing implications with regard to human evolution. Of course that would be a horribly un-PC finding, but it intrigues me nonetheless.
Unfortunately, that was unrelated to my research at the time (which was aboriginal sex partner selection) and when I did become interested several years afterward I couldn't remember where to find it again. I'd have to retrace the steps of my research back then to see if I stumble across it.
Incorrect. Species means they can breed and produce viable, fertile offspring. Horses and mules are not the same species. You can breed them and get a viable, infertile offspring called a mule.
Homo sapiens may not have been able to create a viable, fertile offspring with Neanderthals.
Diet plays a significant part in the quality of the human brain. Access to fish with EPA/DHA components will produce a better brain. Cranial volume is not the final arbiter of intelligence. Natural selection will also play a part. The smarter ones figure out how to survive.
Boy--is that EVER un-PC! Here's all I could find:
Mankind. 1981 Jun;13(1):37-55. Related Articles, Links
The determinants of fertility among Australian Aborigines.
Cowlishaw G.
PIP: This paper concerns the determinants of fertility of precontact Australian Aborigine women. Emphasis is placed on social organization as well as the physical environment and considerations of adaptation. The key to understanding the fertility of Australian Aborigines is the structural tension evident in male-female relations. Ethnographic data on hunter-gatherers fertility indicate a low fertility rate, e.g. 4.7-5.2 live births/woman for the Kung. Traditional Aboriginal physiological fertility was also low if infant mortality is separated from infertility. Past studies of population and transition theory in pre-contact situations have attributed increase in population to reduction in mortality. This paper suggests that there must have been an increase in the birth rate. Factors affecting ovulation, conception, and parturition are examined for traditional Aboriginal populations. Ovulation is affected by nutrition, lactation, and introcision. Lack of body fat in women causes anovulation due to insufficent energy reserves. Increased fertility appears to be a greatly reduced energy expenditure and an increased carbohydrate intake leading to a build up of body weight. Pre-contact Aboriginal fertility was low because of a low caloric intake and a high energy expenditure. Prolonged lactation does not seem to cause birth spacing. The actual length of time after parturition appears to be an independent cause of reduced prolactin, and of reestablishment of ovulation. Stress and anxiety are factors which could reduce fertility by causing anovulation in women and/or reduced sperm counts in men. Contraception is affected by coital frequency and male fertility. Aboriginal coital frequency may have been affected by the lack of privacy and competition of a co-wife. Gestation is affected by spontaneous abortion, sterility, and foetal wastage. Harsh conditions of traditional Aborigines may have affected their ability to conceive. Voluntary controls on fertility for Aborigines include rituals, avoidance of coitus, taking medicines, abortion, and infanticide. Low fertility of precontact aborigines is accounted for by diet and energy expenditure, with limited coital frequency and foetal wastage as probable contributing factors. Fallopian tube blockage could account for the high rate of infertility of women. Social organization, values, and beliefs are important to take into account.
That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the fear to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision making process which rules out human meddling, the Doomsday Machine is terrifying. It's simple to understand. And completely credible, and convincing.
If you haven't yet seen Dr. Strangelove, rent it tonight.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.