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bumpin' the topic, with a reprise from another.

Neanderthals matured faster than humans
Associated Press
April 28, 2004
A new study suggests that Neanderthal children blazed through adolescence and on average reached adulthood at age 15... [P]aleontologist Fernando V. Ramirez Rozzi... with the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, based his study on analysis of Neanderthal teeth... "It's a very exciting paper," said anthropologist Katerina Harvati of New York University. "Our current understanding of Neanderthals is that they're brutish and stupid, even though it turns out they have larger brains on average than ourselves"... For more than 100,000 years, Neanderthals roamed across a vast region from Spain to southern Russia and western Asia, overlapping with anatomically modern man for several thousand years... Harvati said their quick maturation rate may have been an adaptation to a harsh environment that decreased their life span and made it important for youngsters to reach sexual maturity quickly... Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis said he's skeptical of the research. Human growth varies widely within a population, he said. In fact, Rozzi's study includes some Neanderthal teeth that took as long to develop as modern human teeth. University of Illinois at Chicago anatomy professor Jay Kelley said he's also concerned about making conclusions based on what are essentially assumptions about Neanderthal tooth growth.

Just kidding about the dentistry. What Rozzi is trying to prove is the *blind belief* that Neandertal was inferior and driven to extinction by our ancestors. IOW, it's more GIGO. If Rozzi were a dentist -- or for that matter, hadn't received his paleontology degree from the University of Disneyland -- he'd be aware of this:

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]