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October 31, 2006
Neandertals Again
The other day I told of a couple studies of Neandertal DNA, one of which suggests that "modern humans and Neandertals' most recent common ancestor probably perished about 400,000 years ago." Now National Geographic reports on another study "that suggests that modern humans and Neandertals (often spelled Neanderthals) interbred fairly regularly and even mingled physical features as Homo sapiens spread across Europe some 35,000 years ago."
This study is based on detailed analysis of ancient human bones from a cave in Romania. According to Erik Trinkaus, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri,
While the remains are largely typical of modern humans, they also show some distinctly Neandertal traits. . . These telltale skeletal features include the shape of the lower jaw and the back of the skull. . . . [These features] are extremely unlikely to have come from earlier modern humans and very likely have come from Neandertals. . . . The only way I can explain the anatomy of these fossils and the fossils from a number of other sites across Europe is that there was a fair amount of interbreeding.
So which study is correct? It is far from clear. The DNA studies are, as yet, incomplete and further analysis may show considerable interbreeding between our ancestors and Neandertals. On the other hand, if the DNA continues to support an early last common ancestor, other and perhaps new ideas will be required to explain features such as those being studied by Trinkaus. This is how science works, the give and take of sometimes conflicting evidence with a free exchange of ideas and the reasoned critique of the highest probability explanations.
Anyway, our personal Neanadertal is now in our front window prepared to greet trick-or-treaters.
Was this guy one of my ancestors? One of yours? Happy Halloween!
Posted by Duane Smith at October 31, 2006 3:04 PM | Read more on Paleoanthropology |
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