Neanderthals may have been wiped out due to INTERBREEDING and not because of a lack of intelligence

Daily Mail ^ | 29 April 2014 | JONATHAN O'CALLAGHAN

[Fractal Trader]

They are often depicted as dim-witted evolutionary losers, but Neanderthals were not driven to extinction by their lack of brains, a new study suggests.

Instead, it is more likely that they disappeared 40,000 years ago because of interbreeding and assimilation with our early modern human ancestors, scientists believe.

An analysis of archaeological evidence dating back 200,000 years strips away some of the myths surrounding Neanderthals and reveals they were more advanced and sophisticated than has widely been thought. Why did Neanderthals go extinct? It's often thought their lack of intelligent ultimately led to their demise, but new research suggests it may instead have been due to interbreeding and assimilation with our early modern human ancestors

Why did Neanderthals go extinct? It's often thought their lack of intelligent ultimately led to their demise, but new research suggests it may instead have been due to interbreeding and assimilation with our early modern human ancestors

The differences between the two human sub-species are not enough on their own to account for the demise of the Neanderthals, say the two US and Dutch researchers.

Dr Paola Villa, from the University of Colorado Museum, and Professor Wil Roebroeks, from Leiden University, wrote in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE: 'Genetic studies now suggest that the debate on the demise of the Neanderthals needs to be reframed in terms of some degree of interbreeding.

'In that sense, Neanderthals did not go extinct, even though their distinctive morphology did disappear.

[tennmountainman]

Thanks for info. Interesting

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Neanderthals may have been wiped out due to INTERBREEDING

Consanguineous marriages?

I am not an expert on the subject I simply pass along what can easily be found on the 'Net; to wit,

googling, first cousin marriages in islam

returns quite a number of hits. Perhaps the Islamists will do themselves in.

From www.consang.net, "Globally, the most common form of consanguineous union contracted is between first cousins"

Global prevalence of consanguinity

Coincidence? I don't think so.

(Sources of the images are in the links.)

The text is here

Not surprising that there is nothing there that states explicitly that Islamists blah, blah. There is this sole reference (that I could find) "double first cousin marriages, which have the same coefficient of inbreeding [as uncle-niece unions] (F = 0.125), are recognized within Islam"

It seems to me that if "Globally, the most common form of consanguineous union contracted is between first cousins" and the chart shows the Arab countries with the preponderance of consanguineous marriages then that lends a great deal of authority to other 'Net sources that state it outright: "First cousin marriages have been the tradition in many Muslim families for innumerable generations."

[tet68]

In a way we are the Neanderthals’ beneficiaries.

Kewl, I didn’t know they HAD insurance policies
back then.

[varmintman]

Really, and it’s not rubbish. What the hell do you get out of being a Neanderthal apologist???

[gleeaikin]

Inbreeding implies lack of opportunity, and distance between groups. This was one reason why esquimos allowed traveling hunters to have sex with their women as guests. Get some new blood into the tribe. Also, avoid conflict. Here is a link to new thoughts on the parenting behavior of Neanderthals.
http://www.insidescience.org/content/cuddly-neanderthals-parenting-skills/1623

[Mr. Blond]

Your link provides some interesting reading, not altogether implausible, to a point. However the author seems to believe that Cro-Magnons were teleported to Earth from one of Jupiter’s moons. Definitely lost me there. How about you?

[gleeaikin]

Females have concluded that if they didn’t make it happen, the human race would not continue. Therefore they have learned, and evolution has supplied them with the kind of thinking genes that value continuing the species above everything else. Poor stupid men who would rather make war than make love, and thinks that makes them smarter.

[gleeaikin]

Male Neanderthal culture would have primarily been about hunting and killing. Female Neanderthal culture, like female Cro-Magnon culture would have been about making clothing, preparing and storing food, containers, child rearing, tending fires, etc. Which is more important for defining civilization? There are so many aspects of culture that we have no information on regarding who invented it and when, but I’ll bet a lot of it was done by women.

[Stanwood_Dave]

Ditto!!!!! We have a winner, winner - Chicken Diner!!!

[Peter ODonnell]

“Your boyfriend is a real Neanderthal.”

“Yeah, he’s groovy, he can turn trees into this stuff that you, like, inhale.”

“Get out of our cave.”

[ABN 505]

I can usually spot a few at Walmart, they dress rather distinctly.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

I think the interbreeding theory is extremely unlikely. It would require that the 2 groups co-habitate and that there be virtually no preference for mating within one’s group rather than with the other. This simply doesnt happen with primates or other territorial animals. It also requires that the offspring of such a mating are fertile which is also unlikely. It is much more likely that one group wiped out the other either through disease, aggression, or outcompeting them for resources. Even if the 2 groups were equally intelligent, a difference in the level of aggression of one culture relative to the other is enough to cause extinction of the less aggressive group.

[Brooklyn Attitude]

“To narrow it down a bit, I think it said the size of the head in relation to the size of the rest of the body. I don’t think they are allowed to say that any more.”

If the size of the brain correlated to intelligence than blue whales would be the smartest things on Earth. You are correct in that it is the relative size of the brain to the body that is important.

[vetvetdoug]

Neanderthal women were easy. Nobody noticed it but the Homos.

[cloudmountain]

You are probably right.

[cloudmountain]

I’ve had my DNA tested, and I’m 3.2% Neanderthal. I have more Neanderthal DNA than 96% of the population. And what’s funny is, all my life I joked that I was part caveman (well, cavewoman.) As it turns out, I am.

I had my DNA tested also.
"Neaderthal" wasn't one of the categories.

I was 92% European and 8% East Asian.
The 8% was from my mother. She didn't have a clue but it might explain why I like rice so much. :o)

[PapaBear3625]

I’m not convinced that a larger brain correlates with intelligence...at least in primates. Even if Neanderthals had larger brains than we do I think we are smarter. And then there is the fact that men have larger brains than women, but I really don’t think men are smarter than women...they are often times more driven and obsessive, but not smarter.

There's evidence that Europeans have Neanderthal genes. Sub-Saharan Africans do not have any Neanderthal genes.

[blam]

WE ARE NEANDERTHALS.

[PapaBear3625]

I think the interbreeding theory is extremely unlikely. It would require that the 2 groups co-habitate and that there be virtually no preference for mating within one’s group rather than with the other. This simply doesnt happen with primates or other territorial animals.

You have men willing to copulate with goats and chickens. A Neanderthal girl would not be any big deal.

A standard of conquest is that the winning tribe kills the men, and enslaves the women and children, especially the more attractive women.

[blam]

The Neanderthal Theory