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Neanderthals may have been wiped out by EAR INFECTIONS: Scientists say complications of the common..
dm ^ | 9/20/2019 | jack elsom

Posted on 09/20/2019 11:41:54 AM PDT by RummyChick

Ear infections likely killed off the Neanderthals, according to scientists who claim to have cracked the mystery surrounding the species' extinction.

While antibiotics are taken for granted in the modern world, a lack of sophisticated medicine 40,000 years ago is believed to have seen the archaic species suffer from the common childhood illness and then perish.

Moreover, Neanderthals were more prone to contracting an ear infection as they had smaller ears, providing a tighter space for bacteria to become clogged up.

This is believed to have led to breathing and hearing problems and pneumonia.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: evolution; godsgravesglyphs; jackelsom; morelimeycrap; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; nonsense; rudolfvirchow
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To: RummyChick

They just make stuff up.


41 posted on 09/20/2019 1:22:38 PM PDT by xenia ("In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell)
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To: RummyChick

It is so difficult to differentiate between science and speculation that is being published these days.


42 posted on 09/20/2019 1:32:37 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet
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To: RummyChick
Oughta be funny to hear Chris Stringer's take on this.

I find it highly doubtful that susceptibility to an ear infection could/would have caused a species-wide extinction.

< /old carpenter opining on paleoepidemiology >

43 posted on 09/20/2019 1:35:46 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: RummyChick

Maybe 23andMe should do a study to see if there is a correlation between the number of Neanderthal variants their customers have and their susceptibility to earaches.


44 posted on 09/20/2019 1:48:20 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: JohnnyP

I think scientists related tooth decay to high carb diets. Certain civilizations with high sea access had much less of it.


45 posted on 09/20/2019 2:01:05 PM PDT by TalBlack (Damn right I'll "do something" you fat, balding son of a bitc)
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To: fieldmarshaldj; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
Thanks fieldmarshaldj. This one is even more dumb than "Neandertals didn't eat their vegetables".
KEYWORDS: neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals
The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve

in local libraries
"Frayer'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]

46 posted on 09/20/2019 11:09:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: LibWhacker

I wonder how many people today die due to untreated earaches?


47 posted on 09/20/2019 11:57:34 PM PDT by 21twelve (!)
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To: RummyChick

No, no and no.

Everyone knows that such things are caused by only two things. Either Ancient Aliens or Chronic Gum Disease.


48 posted on 09/21/2019 12:18:37 AM PDT by KC Burke (If all the world is a stage, I would like to request my lighting be adjusted.)
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To: mosaicwolf

My favorite b.s. field is evolutionary psychology. The mountains of verifiable mythology generated is staggering. Turns out all the hippies became anthropologists.


49 posted on 09/21/2019 4:47:56 AM PDT by ameribbean expat (Socialism is like a nude beach - - sounds great til you actually get there. -- David Burge.)
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To: Red Badger
Or STDS..................

No, the Neanderthals were wiped out by ennui.

It was so tragic, Gronk just laying there in his cave moaning: "Aw, what's the point?"

50 posted on 09/21/2019 4:51:36 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (“They are openly stating that they intend to murder you. Prep if you want to live.”)
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To: RummyChick
I'm surprised nobody has referenced Doug Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

The enlightened people of the planet Golgafrincham created a ruse that the planet was doomed, and used it as a subterfuge to send the perceived useless people, "such as hairdressers and telephone sanitisers" off planet to be rid of them.

The stay behind population was subsequently wiped out by a disease spread by dirty telephones.

51 posted on 09/21/2019 4:58:48 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Qui me amat, amat et canem meum.)
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To: RummyChick

Maybe... Could have... We believe...

How is anthropology different from theology?


52 posted on 09/21/2019 8:04:02 AM PDT by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Adams was really good at irony.

Service is one of my favorites, BTW. “The Quitter” was quite an encouragement during tough times.


53 posted on 09/21/2019 8:34:34 AM PDT by dsc (Our system of government cannot survive one-party control of communications.)
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To: z3n

I fear you just might be right.


54 posted on 09/21/2019 8:40:46 AM PDT by null and void (<---powered by warm sunshine and gentle breezes and unicorn farts, don't forget the unicorn farts!)
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To: KC Burke

Unidentified Flossing Objects could have saved them...


55 posted on 09/21/2019 9:05:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Sirius Lee
It was so tragic, Gronk just laying there in his cave moaning: "Aw, what's the point?"

WHUT?..................

56 posted on 09/23/2019 6:14:19 AM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain......................)
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To: Long Jon No Silver; SunkenCiv; blam; All

Among other things of interest and possible medical utility is the fact that most with European ancestry are 1 to 4% Neanderthal. Since they were around for at least 60,000 years some periods they might have had big noses and at others especially if young, small noses. I. think my husband had more than 4%. He had a man’s size when he was 13 which created issues about expectations and maturity which had troublesome results in later years. This is just one effect that might be predictable and have social utility.


57 posted on 09/27/2019 7:30:40 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: gleeaikin
Just curious, any way to get his DNA done, even by proxy (siblings, kids, etc)?

58 posted on 09/28/2019 10:19:44 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: RummyChick

Professor Samuel Márquez of the Downstate Health Sciences University, said: ‘It may sound far-fetched, but when we, for the first time, reconstructed the Eustachian tubes of Neanderthals, we discovered that they are remarkably similar to those of human infants.

‘Middle ear infections are nearly ubiquitous among infants because the flat angle of an infant’s Eustachian tubes is prone to retain the otitis media bacteria that cause these infections – the same flat angle we found in Neanderthals.’

In modern times, the Eustachian tubes in human children start to lengthen when they are around five years old and the angle becomes more acute.

This allows the ear to drain, all but eliminating these recurring infections beyond early childhood.

But unlike modern humans, the structure of the Eustachian tubes in Neanderthals did not change with age which meant these chronic ear infections persisted.

Dr Márquez said: ‘It’s not just the threat of dying of an infection. If you are constantly ill, you would not be as fit and effective in competing with your Homo sapien cousins for food and other resources.

‘In a world of survival of the fittest, it is no wonder that modern man, not Neanderthal, prevailed.’

Dr Richard Rosenfeld added: ‘This new and previously unknown understanding of middle ear function in Neanderthal is what allows us to make new inferences regarding the impact on their health and fitness.’


59 posted on 09/28/2019 11:19:51 AM PDT by Pelham (Secure Voter ID. Mexico has it, because unlike us they take voting seriously)
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To: RummyChick

Or perhaps diseases from Africa, when Homo Sapiens Sapiens expanded from Africa into Europe.


60 posted on 09/28/2019 11:22:10 AM PDT by SauronOfMordor (Socialists want YOUR wealth redistributed, never THEIRS!)
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