Posted on 05/11/2011 7:41:02 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The first humans to reach Europe may have found it a ghost world. Carbon-dated Neanderthal remains from the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains suggest that the archaic species had died out before modern humans arrived.
The remains are almost 10,000 years older than expected. They come from just one cave in western Russia, called Mezmaiskaya, but bones at other Neanderthal sites farther west could also turn out to be more ancient than previously thought, thanks to a precise carbon-dating technique, says Thomas Higham, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of Oxford, UK, and a co-author of a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1.
The implication, says Higham's team, is that Neanderthals and humans might never have met in Europe. However, the Neanderthal genome, decoded last year2, hints that the ancestors of all humans, except those from Africa, interbred with Neanderthals somewhere. Perhaps humans departing Africa encountered resident Neanderthals in the Middle East.
"DNA results show that there was admixture probably at some stage in our human ancestry, but it more than likely happened quite a long time before humans arrived in Europe," says Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist at University College Cork in Ireland, who is lead author of the latest study. "I don't believe there were regions where Neanderthals were living next to modern humans. I just don't find it very feasible," he adds.
Time horizon
Carbon dating of stone tools characteristic to humans and Neanderthals, as well as their physical remains, has previously given the impression that the first humans to reach Europe, between about 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, shared the continent with Neanderthals long established there.
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
Perhaps the increasing cold leading to the last glacial maximum (~18000 years ago) had some adverse effects on the population.
Just a guess.
‘Perhaps the increasing cold leading to the last glacial maximum (~18000 years ago) had some adverse effects on the population.’
Not likely, IMHO. Neanderthals had survived several glacial minimums over their history, and disappeared likely after the last glacial minimum.
‘I’ve never heard of guided evolution.’
Over 77,000 Google hits. Much of the Catholic Church leans towards this position.
I’d say about 15%.
Then perhaps they elected a commie/muslim as a president.
That's likely a one-shot mistake for a population.
Igrant that it would perplex a physicist. The physicist has a proprietary approach to language and feels that he and his brother scientists define words as they would be useful to themselves, jargon, as it were. They can speak their own language among themselves.
If you don't want to sound like a knownothing - when discussing technical areas it is best to use the appropriate jargon - lest it prompt correction and clarification that you presumably were neither needful nor appreciate of.
That is all. Carry on.
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
in local libraries
I remain amazed that you continue to regurgitate that nonsense about “halfway between human and chimp”, but at least you link to the source — a half-assed ESL tabloid in India.
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“The liberals will not like the idea that humans and Neanderthals did not have sex. “
That’s OK, they make up for it with bestiality.
Why would God create a defective product that wears out after a few years IF it manages to even get implanted in the womb after fertilization ...
You are joking,right?
Thanks for the ping!
Oh geez...you answered her. Now you did it...
I have it.
And, as a mathematician, I object to the direction of this thread.
First, it has been asserted that “Mathematicians” as a class, deny evolution. That is pure bunk. Almost all I have met, including me, have settled on a genetic algorithms as a process of guided intellegent design. In other words, there is no conflict.
Second, that pic Blam posted - as I have previously remarked - could pass for one of my kids anyday.
Third, Neanderthals had - what - 20% more brain size than homo sapiens sapiens? Seems like devolution to me.
Fourth, will people PLEASE STOP assuming neanderthals are liberal? Racism, at its worst - and the one example of the correct use of the word. My neanderthal family is so conservative, we still heat with fire.
Finally, both of you need to add me to your ping lists. It has only been 11 years we have been having this discussion...
I will go ping the Wendy person to this post, myself - heve to go back and find her screen name.
But I suspect her religious beliefs make it a moot point. Regardless of her rediculous assertions about mathematikers.
Sheez. The guy from the other valley (Ne - Ander - Thal!) isn’t human! Aaahhh, run away!!!
What bunk.
See #96, you devolved ape. There is more genetic difference between you and your husband, than between you and any neanderthal.
Welcome to this fun thread, loosen up and enjoy the illogic.
How do genomes move between species?
I will give you a hint - virii.
I will give you another hint - this phenomenon has been observed in nature.
I will give you yet another hint - you know shinola about mathematicians, stop using us to give credit to your garbage.
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