[Dustbunny]

So does this mean that Jean M. Auel was 20 years ahead of the current scientific findings?

I have always thought that they interbred and had to have been close genetically or they would have produced mules. Also have always thought that children born with Downs Syndrome are a throw back to the Neanderthal.

[happygrl]

Neanderthals were capable of surviving in extreme conditions.

Downs Syndrome individals, of which I have some knowledge, presently working with them, are utterly dependent for their survival.

They do possess characteristics which are very positive, which could be beneficial to the rest of us humans; resistence to cancer, and very congenial personalities.

[wendy1946]

The neanderthal was a very advanced, extinct ape. That does not mean that he could not function at a high level, just that he was not related to us. Having DNA halfway between ours and that of a chimpanzee means that he could not interbreed with us, and that there is zero possibility of our being descended from him via any process resembling evolution since in order to be descended from something, at some point, you have to be able to interbreed with the something.

[gleeaikin]

You may think that Downs Syndrome humans are a throwback to Neanderthal, but you would be wrong. DS humans have a severe chromosomal abnormality that does not relate in any way to Neanderthals.