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Neandertals Had Big Mouths, Gaped Widely
National Geographic News ^ | 5-2-2008 | Mati Milstein

Posted on 05/02/2008 3:01:53 PM PDT by blam

Neandertals Had Big Mouths, Gaped Widely

Mati Milstein in Tel Aviv, Israel
for National Geographic News
May 2, 2008

Neandertals had big mouths that they were able to open unusually wide, new research has determined.

A recent study found that a combination of facial structure, forward-positioned molars, and an unusually large gap between the vertical parts of the back of the jaw allowed Neandertals (also spelled Neanderthals) to gape widely.

Modern humans and our direct ancestors don't have these traits, the researchers note. But the team was unable to measure exactly how far Neandertals could open their mouths.

"This ability is connected to the length of the muscle fibers, which, of course, we don't have," said study co-author Yoel Rak, a professor of anatomy at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

Rak and colleague William Hylander, an expert on jaw biomechanics at Duke University, presented their findings last month at a meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society in Vancouver, Canada.

The scientists believe the large space behind Neandertals' molars created a geometry that allowed them to take extremely large bites.

This is perhaps an adaptation to the size of the food Neandertals ate, the researchers said, although they caution that the exact reason for the wide gape remains an enigma.

"Why were they able to do this?" Rak asked. "This is something that only a time machine could help us answer."

Skull Evolution

Neandertals lived in parts of Europe and Asia for more than 400,000 years, then disappeared some 30,000 years ago.

The omnivorous species had an extremely varied diet—from vegetation to reindeer—and they knew how to butcher and cook meat.

"They didn't have to put a whole [animal] leg in their mouths," noted Alan Mann, a physical anthropologist at Princeton University who did not participate in the new research.

"I would suspect that the Neandertals were probably as adept as we are in cutting their food into manageable sizes," he said.

Mann believes a large mouth structure may not have been exclusive to Neandertals but was also present in earlier human species.

Instead of eating habits, the change in gape size may be due more to the evolution of the skull: as the braincase expanded, the face moved under it, he said.

"What has changed is the architecture that we begin to see in modern humans, where the face and the braincase have different kinds of structural relationships," he said.

"This has produced a change in our ability to open our mouths."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gaped; godsgravesglyphs; mouths; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals
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To: blam

Unless I am mistaken, Neanderthals were not in our direct line of descent, not our ancestors. Distant cousins, perhaps, but not our own line.


21 posted on 05/02/2008 4:14:22 PM PDT by Continental Soldier
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To: workerbee

22 posted on 05/02/2008 4:19:54 PM PDT by BerryDingle (I know how to deal with communists, I still wear their scars on my back from Hollywood-Ronald Reagon)
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To: B Knotts

Priceless!


23 posted on 05/02/2008 4:26:21 PM PDT by ought-six ( Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: Ahithophel

In re Joachim Neuman/Neander...

Another Joachim had a valley named after him, in what is now the Czech Republic. We use a derivation of his valley’s name every day.

Joachim->Joachimthal->thaler->dollar.


24 posted on 05/02/2008 4:35:33 PM PDT by Erasmus (Nihilism never amounted to anything.)
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To: cdbull23

...great minds think alike... ;’)


25 posted on 05/02/2008 5:19:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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That may explain "Jaws" in that James Bond movie.
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]

26 posted on 05/02/2008 5:20:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: Erasmus

The San Joaquin valley in California is named after another Joachim.


27 posted on 05/02/2008 5:22:13 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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okay, they show up in a Google news search for “archaeology”, and FR doesn’t?!?

Constitutional Danger in the State Taking of Children from Parents
John Birch Society, WI - 9 minutes ago
http://www.jbs.org/node/7957

Father loses custody of son over lemonade
WZZM 13 Website | 4-28-08 | Brian Dickerson
Posted on 04/28/2008 8:00:02 AM PDT by mombyprofession
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2008052/posts

Ann Arbor Man’s “Mistake” At Ballpark Separates Him From Son
http://www.mlive.com/
Posted on 04/28/2008 6:10:57 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2008406/posts


28 posted on 05/02/2008 5:24:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: do not press 2 for spanish

You don’t know Gene Simmons from KISS?


29 posted on 05/02/2008 5:29:43 PM PDT by Southerngl
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To: blam

Carly looks the best ever in that video. I forgot how much I love that song!


30 posted on 05/02/2008 5:33:51 PM PDT by Southerngl
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To: Continental Soldier

They aren’t even the same species. Does that constitute ‘cousin’ when referring to animal relations? Is a wolf and dog the same species? Don’t know, just pondering.


31 posted on 05/02/2008 5:36:29 PM PDT by Southerngl
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To: blam
Uh-boy, the things one has to do sometimes...

archaeology -"indiana jones" -"hard lemonade"
Google

32 posted on 05/02/2008 5:42:30 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: Continental Soldier

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2010441/posts?page=26#26


33 posted on 05/02/2008 5:49:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks Blam.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


34 posted on 05/02/2008 5:50:01 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: Southerngl

I heard him once on an NPR interview (coming on to Terri Garr), but have never seen the band, since I’m a 50s-60s R&R product.

Quite the tongue, eh?


35 posted on 05/02/2008 5:57:09 PM PDT by do not press 2 for spanish
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To: Southerngl

I recall reading that dogs and wolves cannot be distinguished genetically.


36 posted on 05/02/2008 6:12:26 PM PDT by Judith Anne (Don't just do something! Stand there!)
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To: do not press 2 for spanish

Yes, his tongue is legendary. His son inherited it as well.

I have loved KISS from a little kid. We watch the Family Jewels quite a bit and his kids are absolute dears. I hope my kids grow up so well adjusted. Of course he is a staunch Republican who took his daughter to military hospitals to show her what ‘real people’ do. Seems like a good guy with a sex addiction that he concedes himself. He dated Cher, Diana Ross and is with Shannon Tweed and has been for 20 years now. He had a cartoon my kids loved called My Dad is a Rock Star or something and he thought of it when his son had a ‘what my dad does’ day and he took in a poster of that picture you commented on. Yeah, that is something you expect at the show off your dad day, hehe.


37 posted on 05/02/2008 6:17:05 PM PDT by Southerngl
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To: blam

Mick & Steven: the missing links...

38 posted on 05/02/2008 6:24:32 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat (Just Say Nobama!)
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To: blam
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
39 posted on 05/02/2008 6:34:47 PM PDT by Ghengis (Of course freedom is free. If it wasn't, it would be called expensivedom. ~Cindy Sheehan 11/11/06)
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To: Southerngl

I’ve never seen or heard them play. Maybe I should visit YouTube and check them out. Do you have any suggestions for some selections of their music, since you are a fan?

(Will I have to put the cats down the basement when it plays?)


40 posted on 05/02/2008 6:34:56 PM PDT by do not press 2 for spanish
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