There may be remnants of Neanderthal genes in the nuclear DNA of people with European ancestors (Image: iStockphoto)
Posted on 08/22/2006 10:25:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
People of European descent may be 5% Neanderthal, according to a DNA study that counters the view that modern humans left Africa and replaced all other existing hominids. The same study, published in the latest issue of the journal PloS Genetics, also says West Africans could be related to an archaic human population... "Instead of a population that left Africa 100,000 years ago and replaced all other archaic human groups, we propose that this population interacted with another population that had been in Europe for much longer, maybe 400,000 years," says Vincent Plagnol... Using statistics and computer modelling, the researchers focused on linkage 'disequilibriums', or sections within genes that did not make sense if only modern human matings are considered... The scientists are not certain which early human group could have contributed to West African DNA, but both Europeans and Africans in the study showed about the same 5% archaic contribution. Neanderthals are believed to have originated in Africa around 400,000 years ago, but they left and then settled in Europe, hence the apparent lack of interaction with modern humans in Africa. Alan Templeton, professor of Evolutionary and Population Programs at the University of Michigan, has also conducted DNA studies and comes to similar conclusions... New technologies are being developed to sequence nuclear DNA from fossils, so in the near future, scientists may learn more about how modern human genes compare with those of archaic humans, like Neanderthals.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
There may be remnants of Neanderthal genes in the nuclear DNA of people with European ancestors (Image: iStockphoto)
The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer'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]
by James Shreeve
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Most of the women I know say I'm ALL Neanderthal!
Uhg tomak lu tawana!
Thanks, it's great to hear the Old Tongue spoken again. ;')
Viking, eh? So, what exactly happened on that boat? ;')
:'D
 |
Genetic Genealogy  |
| Send FReepmail if you want on/off GGP list Marty = Paternal Haplogroup O(2?)(M175) Maternal Haplogroup H |
|
| GG LINKS: African Ancestry DNAPrint Genomics FamilyTree DNA mitosearch Nat'l Geographic Genographic Project Oxford Ancestors RelativeGenetics Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Trace Genetics ybase ysearch |
|
| The List of Ping Lists | |
I'll have the roast duck with mango salsa.
That is so funny. I know an intellectual Neanderthal. LOL!
Vall, dey vent Viking bot de vould-be rapers become de rapEEs. I am not your vadder bot your mudder, said he. Your fadder's a Neandertal from Normandie.
Yes. And not in a small part, either.
Yes, I'm Neanderthal-American and I demand that my tribal rights to Europe be honored. All you puny homosapiens better leave my tribal stomping grounds and return the bones of my deceased ancestors.
Since I think the'Red Sonja' method of choosing an ideal mate makes perfect sense, I'd say "probably, yes".....:)
Well, almost everyone, even brunettes, has red lights in their hair, fwiw.
My wife says so.
Well, there's a first time for everything ;-).
Cirroc: "Thank you! Thank you very much, thank you! First of all, let me say how happy I am to be your nominee for the United States Senate! [ applause ] You know.. thank you.. I don't really understand your Congress, or your system of checks and balances.. because, as I said during the campaign - I'm just a caveman! I fell on some ice, and later got thawed out by scientists. But there is one thing I do know - we must do everything in our power to lower the Capital Gains Tax. Thank you!"
I think I'm part bear.
May I join you in partaking of duck in mango salsa? I find it so "hobbit" forming ;o)
Ain't no monkey MY ancestor!
I'm part sabertooth (Grrrr!)
Discovery ran a special on Neaderthals and the supposed reasons for their demise this weekend.
I don't think it was all that convincing but revealed some interesting new data about them.
My theory is people that like to eat meat like I do must be part Neaderthal.
Those veggie crunching PETA types are probably non-Neaderthals.
Who'd a thunk that he was partially right. /s
Hiya!
Before my hair developed what I call 'highlights' it was red so I guess I am. LOL
I heard about that on another forum. He mentioned a claim that the Neanderthal inner ear wouldn't give them a sense of balance adequate for them to run. So, they existed for 500,000 years and all that time, they couldn't run? Yeah, sure. And a few years back, some veg-heads claimed that the Neanderthal went extinct because he ate too much meat. That ridiculous imbecile who referred to Neanderthal as "the village idiot" claimed that speech was enabled by genes on the mitochondria, and that the Neanderthal's lack of speech led to extinction. :')
Well, cover up, for cryin' out loud.
And then she sez, "is that a brow ridge, or are you just happy to see me?"
The question then is is it a sign of common lineage or a trait that developed seperately, probably as an adaptation to cold weather.Really, a bony ridge is an adaptation to cold weather? Hmm, I wonder...
Neanderthal Man 'never walked in northern Europe'Work by the flamboyant Professor Reiner Protsch von Zieten showed that Neanderthal Man existed in northern Europe. Calculations on skeletal remains found at Hahnofersand, near Hamburg, stated they were 36,000 years old. Yet recent research at Oxford University's carbon-dating laboratory has suggested that they date back a mere 7,500 years. By that time, Homo sapiens was already well-established and the Neanderthals were extinct. Chris Stringer, a Stone Age specialist and head of human origins at London's Natural History Museum, said: "What was considered a major piece of evidence showing that the Neanderthals once lived in northern Europe has fallen by the wayside. We are having to rewrite prehistory." ...Now, however, important remains that Oxford scientists no longer believe are prehistoric include the female "Bischof-Speyer" skeleton, found near the south-west German town of Speyer with unusually good teeth. Their evidence suggests that she is 3,300 years old, not 21,300. Another apparent misdating involved an allegedly prehistoric skull discovered near Paderborn in 1976 and considered the oldest human remain ever found in the region. Prof von Zieten dated the skull at 27,400 years old. The latest research, however, indicates that it belonged to an elderly man who died around 1750.
by Tony Paterson
August 22, 2004
I don't bite!.........MUCH! LOL!
I don't understand how they concluded Neanderthal man only lived in forests during the ice age. It was my understanding that there was a tundra like climate below the glacial ice line then forests.
Most of the game is ALWAYS in the open plains area and the idea that a human being could sneak up on a deer and get close enough to stab it to death often enough to feed himslef is laughable. And one would EXPECT the muscles in the right arm and hand to be stronger if you were throwing a spear or using an atl-atl.
My guess was they killed and ate mammoths just like Homo sapiens. The film admitted that one deer pnly provided enough meat for two days - so why bother when you had big hairy meat market stalking around waiting to be outsmarted and butchered?
Yes
:')
New Evidence of Early Humans Unearthed in Russia's NorthStone tools, animal bones and an incised mammoth tusk found in Russia's frigid far north have provided what archaeologists say is the first evidence that modern humans or Neanderthals lived in the Arctic more than 30,000 years ago, at least 15,000 years earlier than previously thought... The tusk was carbon-dated at about 36,600 years old. Plant remains found among the artifacts were dated at 30,000 to 31,000 years... The discoverers said they could not determine from the few stone artifacts whether the site was occupied by Neanderthals, hominids who by then had a long history as hunters in Europe and western Asia, or some of the first anatomically modern humans to reach Europe... If these toolmakers were Neanderthals, the findings suggested that these human relatives, who became extinct after 30,000 years ago, were more capable and adaptable than they are generally given credit for. Living in the Arctic climate presumably required higher levels of technology and social organization... If they were modern humans, then the surprise is that they had penetrated so far north in such a short time. There has been no firm evidence for modern humans in Europe before about 35,000 years ago. It had generally been thought that the northernmost part of Eurasia was not occupied by humans until the final stage of the last ice age, some 13,000 to 14,000 years ago, when the world's climate began to moderate.
by John Noble Wilford
September 6, 2001
Yeah, well, I couldn't resist! ;-)
So is it only Professor Reiner Protsch von Zieten's dating of the Neanderthals that is called into question, or is it all other Neanderthal bones that have been found as well?
That would explain a lot, I'm hairy and ugly.
I'm not too sure that these new "dates" have held up; I think von Zieten had some other issues, legal ones, related to the sale of some bones. That's just from memory though, don't take my words as is. :')
Heavy brow ridges would probably protect the eyes from severe winter weather. From recent FR postings I have come to the conclusion that Neanderthals were mostly blue eyed redheads, which was the coloring most sensitive to the production of Vitamin D in the skin in a severe cold weather situation. Africans moving north were not really able to thrive until the appearance of the blond gene which also favors Vitamin D formation. Good Vit. D, good bones, good pelvis structure, successful childbirth, and the smarter guys win.
Long ago, I strongly suspected that my husband had Neanderthal genes. Scottish ancestry, pale blue eyes, red hair, heavy brow, receeding chin, massive bones, short legs, long torso, and a warrior temperment. Now I am virtually certain. He died recently from Alzheimer's Disease, and I have a hypothesis about that.
I am calling the Alz. gene(s) the "altruist gene", because it would cause a person with it to wander off looking for food and not make it back, leaving more food for the young, and favoring their survival. I noticed that my husband would excape out the front door when he was hungry and I was in the kitchen trying to get a quick dinner on the table. I have theorized that in stable, warm settled communities that there should not be as great an incidence of Alz., but that it would be more common in outpost societies with severe climate and food scarcity. I looked for studies on the incidence of Alz. and found one study in south India, and another in a major African city that has existed for a long time. The incidence of Alz. in those places was about 1/4 that of the US. A study of Alz. among Blacks in Cleveland showed a similar frequency to the rest of the US. Many slaves were captured from small village in the jungle, where survival conditions were probably more severe than in large African towns.
The finding of human presence along the arctic ocean around 26,000 ya is not surprising, there are also finds from 32,000ya. They have recently discovered that major painted caves in Europe date from 32,000ya, not 24,000ya as previously believed. Actually temperatures had leveled off during those years, and then dropped rapidly until 18,000ya when the glaciers started to melt.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
