Do you have a Neanderthal in your family tree?

earth_as_one

earth_as_one

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If your ancestors aren't pure African, then a good chance exists that you might be part Neanderthal or Denisovan. Both of these are closely related hominid species. Until recently scientists believed Neanderthals and Denisovans became extinct tens of thousands of years ago. But new evidence suggests some of us are their descendents.

Modern humans whose ancestors come from outside Africa may have up to 3 percent of their DNA from the Denisovans and 4 percent to 6 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals.
Neanderthal and Denisovan genetics: Human ancestors interbred with extinct species. - Slate Magazine
 
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Sal

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earth_as_one said:
If your ancestors aren't pure African, then a good chance exists that you might be part Neanderthal or Denisovan. Both of these are closely related hominid species. Until recently scientists believed Neanderthals and Denisovans became extinct tens of thousands of years ago. But new evidence suggests some of us are their descendents.

Modern humans whose ancestors come from outside Africa may have up to 3 percent of their DNA from the Denisovans and 4 percent to 6 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals.
Neanderthal and Denisovan genetics: Human ancestors interbred with extinct species. - Slate Magazine
Click to expand...
Excellent article.
 
gerryh

gerryh

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No big surprise. Homo Sapiens will fu ck anything on 2 legs, and some will even bang the 4 legged type.
 
SLM

SLM

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Mar 5, 2011
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I have no problems with Neanderthals in my and my family's distant past.

The Neanderthals I have a problem with are the ones that exist today.
 
C

Cliffy

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Neanderthals had a larger brain than we do and were far more sophisticated than previously thought. W still don't know why they petered out. I think that we may be doing them a disfavour by comparing them to some of the throwbacks that exist today.
 
earth_as_one

earth_as_one

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Good point Cliffy. Neanderthals may have been as intelligent as modern humans. They just had a different physiology. Not only did they have a larger brain, they also were stockier and probably physically stronger. The made and used primitive tools, had fire and buried their dead... indicating they weren't dumb brutes.

I suspect our real history is far more complex than commonly understood. I suspect that modern humans are actually a homogenization of many hominid species besides the two or three known ones. As our intelligence and technology evolved, so did our ability to migrate and as a result mix with our near relatives around the world.
 
T

The Old Medic

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The whole concept that Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal did not interbreed appeared to be nonsense all along.

There was absolutely NO scientific basis for such a belief. Instead, some so-called "scientists" assumed that this could never have happened, because "everyone knew" that Neanderthals were stupid, brutish things with no real connection to real human beings.

But then, as archeologists discovered more and more graves of Neanderthals, with flowers and other "grave goods", as they discovered more and more tools fashioned by Neanderthals, and even some decorative arts remains, the opinions of the real scientists began to change.

My ancestry is Northern European and Native American (meaning Asiatic), so the odds are extremely high that I have on the larger side of Neanderthal genes. As Popeye the sailor said, in all of his cartoons, "I yam what I yam" . I have no reason not to be just as proud of some remote Neanderthal ancestors as I do of my parents.

After all, Neanderthal survived a LOT longer than Homo Sapiens has done so far!
 
L Gilbert

L Gilbert

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earth_as_one said:
If your ancestors aren't pure African, then a good chance exists that you might be part Neanderthal or Denisovan. Both of these are closely related hominid species. Until recently scientists believed Neanderthals and Denisovans became extinct tens of thousands of years ago. But new evidence suggests some of us are their descendents.

Modern humans whose ancestors come from outside Africa may have up to 3 percent of their DNA from the Denisovans and 4 percent to 6 percent of their DNA from Neanderthals.
Neanderthal and Denisovan genetics: Human ancestors interbred with extinct species. - Slate Magazine
Click to expand...
"Recently" is a relative term. We've known about H. Neanderthalensis DNA mingled with H. Sapiens DNA in humans for a couple years. Also about the intelligence of H. Neanderthalensis (among other subspecies).
 
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