Neanderthal Long Bones

The first Neanderthal remains, discovered in Germany in 1856, were presented to the world of science at a meeting of the Lower Rhine Medical and Natural History Society held in Bonn in February 1857 and named a species, Homo neanderthalensis, by William King in 1864. Some Neanderthal fossils and other remains are in excellent condition, giving a good idea of Neanderthal culture. In 1887, two complete skeletons were found in a cave near Spy in Belgium, and more from sites in France in 1887, 1908 and 1911. These and other finds showed that the Neanderthals had populated Europe widely from about 130,000 to 28,000 years ago after which they became extinct. Most of these fossils were found in caves. Usually they are associated with cold

The Neanderthal’s explanation as to why they are the last living of their species accurately describes the model of natural selection. Because the rest of their species died off due to disease, starvation and unfavorable phenotypes (size/strength), natural selection has selected for them to survive and pass on their traits.

Hominids are dependent on tools to survive their environments and in a similar way primates use tools to amplify their survival through the use of tools (Barham and Mitchell, 2008). Thus there is a direct correlation between environments and tool usage, furthermore there is an important commonality as extent primates such as apes inhabit the same environments and face the same circumstances as that in which early hominids existed in (Barham and Mitchell, 2008). These are only a limited selection of the numerous benefits to using extent primates as analogues to assist in understanding the developments of early hominids. As important as these advantages are it is essential to mention and examine the disadvantages of this analytical technique. 3.

Traditionally, Neanderthals have been viewed as large, hulking ape like beings that survived by aggression and power through the harshest conditions possible on earth. They have been painted as unsophisticated and unable to compete with humans on an intellectual level. These academics theorized that superior human intellect and reasoning gave humans the advantage in hunting game and securing the most valuable natural resource, eventually driving the Homo neanderthalensis to extinction 30,000 years ago. Popular culture describes Neanderthals as first viewed by science as large, hulking ape like beings. However, new evidence suggests that one of the first reconstructed Neanderthal skeletons did not consider that the individual suffered from acute arthritis. Despite unique, this Neanderthal ‘s hunching posture was associated with the entire species, giving one the impression of a “brutish caveman”. This new understanding has reformed research on the Neanderthal and a new understanding of humanity’s earliest ancestor

Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for well over 100,000 years.  Then suddenly Homo neandertalensis began to die out and surrender the earth to Homo sapiens.  Paleontologists and anthropologists have entertained several possibilities to the causes of this event: interbreeding among Neanderthals and humans, competition for natural resources, and Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest.”  What the real cause has been has plagued scientists for years. Now, due to an international research team from Germany, those possibilities have been even further deduced, making it easier to pinpoint the exact reason Homo neandertalensis became extinct.

comparable to the sun and the moon? What about King Solomon. Sol (soul)(sun) , Mon (moon) (man), so could this equate to the king of the soul of man? New information is emerging about our neanderthal predecessors all the time. For example, their are discussions now about

If Neanderthals did in fact comport themselves in ways once thought to distinguish anatomically modern humans and enable the latter’s rise to world domination, that similarity makes the Neanderthals’ decline and eventual extinction all the more mystifying. One theory is that H. sapiens had a broader variety of tools that may have enhanced their ability to forage. When they brought their superior technology with them out of Africa and into Eurasia, they were thus better able to exploit the environment more effectively than the resident Neanderthals could. Still, the arrival of H. sapiens did not equal an instant demise for Neanderthals. The latest attempt to track their decline, carried out by Thomas Higham of Oxford and his colleagues, applied

Contemporary Europeans have roughly three times more Neanderthal variable in their genes involved in lipid catabolism than Asian and African people. Even though Neanderthals are extinct, small pieces of their genomes tend to exist in modern humans. These similarities are unevenly distributed across the genome and some regions are particularly enriched with Neanderthal variants. While analyzing the influence of Neanderthal variants on lipid processing in modern humans, the researchers found revolutionary changes in lipid concentration and expression of metabolic enzymes in brains of humans of European

Additional interesting facts about Neanderthals include: They had the same gene associated with language that modern humans have, but the anatomy of their vocal chords would not allow them to make certain sounds. They found a way to make adhesive through a complex thermal process, where they extracted pitch from stones. Amongst the artifacts found from the Neanderthal time period there are bones which appear to have been made into instruments. They were the first in history to have buried their dead. It appears they may have even marked their graves and perhaps had burial rituals. Finally, it has been discovered that at least some of the Neanderthals had pale skin and red hair. Qualities that may have helped them to absorb vitamin D which in

As mentioned earlier, the Neandertals possessed large, stocky physiques that were built to withstand the frosty weather. This is an example of a biological adaptation in response to their terrain. Without their large builds, the Neandertals would not stand a chance in the wintry weather. Along with their biological adaptation, Neandertals adopted behavioral changes as well. They even began clothing themselves. It is said, Neandertals used animal skins and hides to protect themselves from the cold (Stanton, et al., 2013, p. 405). While they clothed themselves, it was not fully effective protection against hypothermia. Hypothermia is a probable explanation to the extinction of the Neandertals; however, the Neandertals avoided the climate by seasonally migrating over long distances or by moving as overall conditions get colder (or warmer) during all parts of the year (Stanton, et al., 2013, p. 406). With their migration system, they were out in the open and inadequate portable insulation had additional ramifications for Neandertal survival (Gilligan, 2007, p. 507). The Neandertals lived nomadic lifestyles and that contributed to compromises in their hunting and gather activities as well as their fertility rates (Gilligan, 2007, p. 507). There was an evident rise in their adult mortality rates alongside with their even higher infant mortality, in view of the fact that they render infants more prone to hypothermia as

While it is important to understand the significance of each hypothesis, the questions surrounding the Neanderthal extinction takes on assorted factors that are not mutually exclusive. Numerous studies have been conducted focusing exclusively on climate, competition or disease as a function of Neanderthal extinction. However, conflicting conclusion suggest that there are several factors involved that overlap and/ or arising from one another. This paper will attempt to better understand how climate, competition, and disease might operate together to account for Neanderthal extinction. First by summarizing each argument of the three arguments and identifying the potential implications for father research. Secondly, aim to develop a framework that will include the most relevant hypothesis.

This in turn allowed them to consider the context of differing abilities to cope with fluctuating resources, different variables, and overall paths in brain development between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs). Although Neanderthals did share similar brain sizes comparable to anatomically modern humans (AMHs), nevertheless Neanderthals brain cases were elongated and not globular as in Homo Sapiens implying that anatomically modern humans (AMHs) and Neanderthals reached fairly large brain sizes along dissimilar evolutionary paths. In their underlying research, they hypothesize that similarly sized brains of both Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs) were ostensibly organized differently for two

Throughout the documentary “Decoding Neanderthals” there was a push of research to push the human view of Neanderthals. Over the year’s research showed that we coexisted with Neanderthals and out beat their species. Many believed that Neanderthals where like the stereotypical unintelligent and wild caveman. With new technology, enhanced research, and the exposing documentary “Decoding Neanderthals” pushed the boundaries of these past ideologies. Through this we have learned how intelligent, symbolic, and closely related this species is to homo-sapiens species. This research proved that the Neanderthal may have not became extent due to in ability to create weapons but, due to inter breading with humans

Several different hypotheses have been formulated to explain the extinction of Neanderthals, from climate changes to intoxication from cave-associated contaminants like smoke, from cannibalism to diseases (Herrera et al., 2009). It is only certain that Neanderthals disappeared from fossil record after the arrival of modern humans, around 40,000 years in Asia, and 10,000-15,000 years in Europe (Shreeve, 1995). Fossil evidence shows the presence of modern humans in Middle East from 130,000 to 75,000 years ago, in the same areas where Neanderthals retreated between 65,000 and 47,000 years ago (Mellars, 2004).

There is evidence to suggest that Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens had coexisted for approximately 35-40,000 years, (Fagan 2010) from around 60,000 years ago to 25,000 years ago when they finally went extinct (Gibbon 2001). Anthropologists are still uncertain what the cause of their extinction was. This paper will analyze three main theories of Neanderthal extinction. The first theory is the competition theory, which claims that the Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had to compete for resources, ultimately leading to their demise. The second theory I will discuss is the climate change theory, which claims that Homo sapiens lived while Neanderthals died because they were better adapted to the climate. The last theory I will discuss is