Posted on 02/06/2007 7:07:15 PM PST by Soothesayer
DID ANATOMICALLY modern humans interbreed with Neanderthals, the muscle-bound, big-browed and possibly mute cave dwellers who disappeared from Europe and the Middle East about 30,000 years ago? The answer may be less interesting than the fact that so many Homo sapiens are fixated on the question. The debate about whether there's a Neanderthal skeleton in our collective closet was revived last week when two groups of scientists reported that they had deciphered DNA from the thigh bone of a Neanderthal man who lived in Croatia 38,000 years ago. From their analysis of genetic material in the bone, the scientists estimated that Neanderthals and the modern people who supplanted them had 99.5% of their genes in common. This will come as an unpleasant surprise to anyone who remembers the film "Clan of the Cave Bear," in which a comely Cro-Magnon played by Daryl Hannah was adopted into a clan of brutish Neanderthals. But it will cheer anthropologists who argue that if you gave a Neanderthal a bath, a haircut and an iPod, he would blend in with any contemporary crowd. Since the discovery in the 19th century of Neanderthal remains in Germany's Neander Valley, scientific opinion has seesawed between the idea that Neanderthals were an evolutionary dead end only distantly related to modern humans and the view that at least some Neanderthals felt the urge to merge with smarter, nimbler modern humans who left Africa about 100,000 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
That guy on the right is really primitive!
C'mon, today's people "interbreed" with horses, chickens, goats, sheep and just about anything else that breathes and is above room temperature (just check out Sundance). And we are supposed to believe homo sapiens would've looked down their noses at Neanderthals, that copulating with them would have been below their station? Ha!
LoL...
Clan of the cave bear was a good one.. I loved it/them..
One thing ALL humans have in common.. They love a good story..
Hahahaha! That is sooo mean, but I must save this pic :)
Are these photos real?
Well humans and Oak trees are something like 90% the same, so a 0.5% does not prove much when a 1 millionth percent of a genetic difference separates an Einstein from an anacephalitic.
Stupid article but I did like the "Clan of the Cave Bear" movie and didn't even realize they were trying to depict Neanderthals vs. Cro-Magnons. I thought it was "primitive vs advanced", not a species difference they were depicting, that is if Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons even qualify as different species. From what I can see, the jury is still out on that.
Hey, put that guy in lion-faced makeup and I know a convention full of ladies that'll swoon at his feet.
It does not accurately convey the actual DNA evidence for human/Neanderthal interbreeding.
There have been a lot of articles, including FR threads, on this subject. Check out the facts for yourself.
I know but I thought it was funny. Even if the "people" at LA Times "think" otherwise.
Somebody needs to do a DNA test on Dan Dierdorf. Just saying.
"Them brothers don't run to handsome, but that "Oink" is one seriously ugly feller."
Yes. Here's another...
No question in my mind: Mr. Fairview is a direct lineal descendant of the Neanderthals. But he is his own species.
The little guy almost won that fight.
LOL. I thought at first you were referring to Ron Perelman (extra e), the neanderthal billionaire who bought Revlon Cosmetics in the '80's.
Oh,ho. That's bad. LOL
Yeah, he's a crybaby.
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.