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Chance And Isolation Gave Humans Elegant Skulls
New Scientist ^ | 7-24-2007

Posted on 07/25/2007 3:31:25 PM PDT by blam

Chance and isolation gave humans elegant skulls

24 July 2007
NewScientist.com news service

Only chance kept us from looking like our crag-browed Neanderthal cousins. A statistical analysis suggests that the skull differences between the two species stems not from positive natural selection but from genetic drift, in which physical features change randomly, without an environmental driving force.

Some anthropologists had put the cranial differences down to natural selection arising from Neanderthals' use of their teeth as tools, for instance, or from modern humans' speech. To test if genetic drift could have been responsible instead, Timothy Weaver of the University of California, Davis, and colleagues compared 37 measurements of the skulls of various modern human populations with those of Neanderthals. After a comparison of the mean divergence between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals and the mean divergence among groups of modern humans, they conclude that genetic drift is responsible (Journal of Human Evolution, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.03.001).

The development of culture weakened the influence of the environment upon both Neanderthals and modern humans, says Weaver. But ultimately the two species drifted apart genetically when they became isolated from each other.

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


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; human; neandertal; neanderthal; neanderthals; skulls

1 posted on 07/25/2007 3:31:27 PM PDT by blam
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To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 07/25/2007 3:31:53 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: blam

Hahahahahaahahahahahhaahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


3 posted on 07/25/2007 3:32:59 PM PDT by gedeon3
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To: blam
All that from comparisons to 20 Neandertal fossil specimens?

Color me skeptical.

4 posted on 07/25/2007 3:34:17 PM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: mewzilla

Maybe some thing this is dumb, but......has anyone else noticed that Hillary has an unusual shape to her head? Or maybe her helmet type hair style just causes an optical illusion.


5 posted on 07/25/2007 3:40:42 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Dilbert San Diego

A robust australopithecine, maybe?


6 posted on 07/25/2007 3:42:51 PM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: blam

“..Elegant Skulls”

Who are we to judge our skulls as elegant? If Neanderthal had survived they would have opined that Homo Sapiens had a featureless cranium.


7 posted on 07/25/2007 3:50:26 PM PDT by 353FMG (America, first, last and always.)
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To: 353FMG
If Neanderthal had survived they would have opined that Homo Sapiens had a featureless cranium.

(Geico "caveman") Why, that's *so* obvious even a Homo Sapiens would get it...

the infowarrior

8 posted on 07/25/2007 5:25:23 PM PDT by infowarrior
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To: blam
I think all skulls have their own beauty!

I have handled several thousand human skulls, most of the major fossil specimens (as casts), and a large assortment of primates and other critters. I like them all!

9 posted on 07/25/2007 5:29:48 PM PDT by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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To: Coyoteman
"I think all skulls have their own beauty!"

Good for you. That's a healthy view.

10 posted on 07/25/2007 6:09:15 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: mewzilla
"All that from comparisons to 20 Neandertal fossil specimens? Color me skeptical."

Welcome to anthropology, the softest of the soft, soft, sciences.

11 posted on 07/25/2007 6:11:28 PM PDT by joebuck
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To: joebuck
Welcome to anthropology, the softest of the soft, soft, sciences.

Have to disagree with you here. Anthropology is traditionally broken up into four disciplines: cultural anthropology, linguistics, physical anthropology, and archaeology.

The latter two are not "soft" in any respects. I split my Ph.D. between the two and I can assure you this.

Perhaps you are thinking of the soft aspects of anthropology, along with sociology, psychology, theology and those other squishy subjects?

12 posted on 07/25/2007 6:37:25 PM PDT by Coyoteman (Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.)
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a tall glass of the usual, please:
The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve
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]

13 posted on 07/25/2007 11:04:54 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Monday, July 23, 2007 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: blam; FairOpinion; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...
Thanks Blam.

Disraeli and Twain, Disraeli and Twain. ;')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

14 posted on 07/25/2007 11:05:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Monday, July 23, 2007 https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Yeah, I noticed that too, its all those years of wind pressure forcing the pointy hat down on her head as flies to meetings of the coven.


15 posted on 07/26/2007 6:43:33 AM PDT by skepsel
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