Somewhere over the past few months I learned that humans and Neanderthals could interbreed. This had been in dispute. But anyone with red hair and freckles definately has Neanderthal genes because the genes for red hair and freckles were not present in human beings in Africa.
Neanderthals, Humans Interbred
Living as hunter-gatherers and moving place to place we must have occasionally interacted with Neanderthals. The genetic evidence already proves we interbred. But Neanderthals suddenly died out about 30,000 years ago and there's some evidence we ate them.
How Neanderthals met a grisly fate: devoured by humans | Science | The Observer
Overal, though, they were more intelligent than humans. But I suppose being good at learning old things isn't as important as being able to think of new things.
It seems that no mitochondrial (female) line goes back to the Neanderthals, so if the interbreeding happened it was Neanderthal males and Homo Sapiens females.
This Neanderthal has never been eaten by a Homo. :frown1:
It's actually still disputed. It's a highly controversial topic. Personally, I'd like to believe it happened.
One bunch of chewed on bones does not indicate that we ate them to extinction.
No one has any idea if they were more intelligent.
Neither direct brain-body size comparisons, nor the more complex encephalisation quotient are considered to be effective measures of intelligence. To some extent they are indicators, but they don't provide straight forward correlations.
Not necessarily. There could have been Neanderthal females involved. The lack of a mitochondrial link just means that no female line survived all the way until the current day.
:frown1: It will happen for you one day :smile:.
Some Neanderthals were redheads - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - msnbc.com
This is a 2007 link. Red hair and freckles have now been conclusively proven to enter homo sapien DNA via Neanderthals.
Native Africans living in Africa today do not have this gene. The homo sapien population that migrated from Africa 50,000 years ago intermixed with other primates. The population that stayed in Africa did not receive the genetic diversity.
That only says that some Neanderthals may also have had red hair and freckles. Seeing as they lived in similar climates to Nordic humans, it could've been due to convergent evolution.
Not really "could have" but more like "was." mc1r, the gene they found in Neanderthal DNA, has several alleles in the modern human population, but none that match the variant they found in Neanderthals. Surprisingly, the allele found in Neanderthals matches that found in wooly mammoths, so, following joshua_ste's (lack of) logic, Neanderthals got their red hair from wooly mammoths!
Any more details on the research? If the alleles match those of mammoths, couldn't this mean that the bones were conteminated with mammoth DNA?
I'd like to believe that I know quite a bit about evolution, but I'm not even a layman when it comes to evolution on a genetic or molecular level.
It's highly unlikely that there was contamination. Mammoth gene loci are quite a lot different from human gene loci. Neanderthals and modern humans had a nearly identical chromosomal structure, which is radically different from that of wooly mammoths. If it was a case of contamination, it would have been readily obvious. It just so happens that there are several ways to deactivate mc1r, and Neanderthals and Wooly Mammoths independently stumbled upon the same method, whereas modern humans stumbled upon several other methods.
You have a decent understanding. Ultimately, all evolution is driven at the genetic level. If you have a decent grasp of population evolution, which it seems you do, then you know a lot more about genetics than you thought.
Surprisingly, the allele found in Neanderthals matches that found in wooly mammoths, so, following joshua_ste's (lack of) logic, Neanderthals got their red hair from wooly mammoths!
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The closest lines you can find of true, original homo sapiens are still in Africa. They are the closest model of the homo sapiens that migrated out 50-60,000 years ago (some professors say longer - time will always be in dispute) . So, we have to ask ourselves: where did we pick up all these diverse hair/skin/feature traits? Are they all random genetic mutations within a 20-30,000 year period? Modern Africans are a current population that does NOT have a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA -- and a human population that does not have a great deal of genetic diversity. How did the Scandinavian features and bodily attributes develop?
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That might explain my strong attraction to hairy men with long.....trunks.
Enough of my 'thread-jacking', let's return to what has become a very serious and educated discussion.....
Did Homo Sapiens Eat Neanderthals?
Jason and subgirrl: The results from Neanderthal genome sequencing are becoming less "unclear" and disputed as we move forward.
Anyway, Sub, I think i've just fallen in love with you! (In a completely platonic and non-sexual way, of course)
Jason and subgirrl: The results from Neanderthal genome sequencing are becoming less "unclear" and disputed as we move forward.
This is where you go very very very wrong. Africa has the greatest genetic diversity of any of the continents.
I'm applying full doubt and scepticism to Neanderthal gene claims until forced to do otherwise - at which time new ethical developments will be needed. I would be happiest if these claims are proved wrong.
joyboytoy79 & Jason:
You guys rock! You have your facts together, you both have good minds, and you proceed with caution. I wouldn't have guessed this level of detailed discourse available on a penis site! I do have a tendency to be drawn toward & get carried away with bold theories & conjecture!
I find it interesting that you would prefer them to be wrong because I am very much on the other side of the fence. Although, like you, I'm currently with the doubters.