Yesterday’s blog mentioned the Neanderthal. To my surprise the Neanderthal are far more interesting than I would ever have imagined. In essence, the Neanderthal were bigger, stronger, taller and more intelligent than modern humans. Contrary to the widespread idea that Neanderthals were ape-like or inferior, the Neanderthal were much more like an intelligent Tarzan. So why did they go extinct??
As the 2014 study by Thomas Higham of Neanderthal bones and tools indicates that Neanderthals died out in Europe between 41,000 and 39,000 years ago, and that Homo sapiens arrived in Europe between 45,000 and 43,000 years ago, it is now apparent that the two different human populations shared Europe for as long as 5,000 years. (Wikipedia)
Neanderthals were closely related to modern humans, differing in DNA by just 0.12%. Although both species co-existed, there is only limited evidence – and a lot of controversy – whether they interbred. Some studies suggest that our Neanderthal-inherited genetic material is about 1 to 4 percent. Other studies carried out [..] have cast doubt on the level of admixture between Neanderthals and modern humans, or even as to whether the species interbred at all. One study has asserted that the presence of Neanderthal or other archaic human genetic markers can be attributed to shared ancestral traits between the species originating from a 500,000-year-old common ancestor. (Wikipedia)
Neanderthals were large compared to Homo sapiens because they inhabited higher latitudes [..] and their larger stature explains their larger brain size because brain size generally increases with body size. With an average cranial capacity of 1600 cm3, the cranial capacity of Neanderthals is notably larger than the 1400 cm3 average for modern humans, indicating that their brain size was larger. Males stood 164–168 cm and females 152–156 cm tall. Studies on Neanderthal body structures have shown that they needed more energy to survive than any other species of hominid. When food became scarce, this difference may have played a major role in the Neanderthals’ extinction. (Wiki)
So why did the bigger, stronger, taller and more intelligent Neanderthal lose from their co-existing competitor Homo sapiens? There are several hypotheses but a cocktail of these hypotheses may provide a more convincing line of thought. In essence, the hypotheses vary from climate change, human inflicted diseases, interbreeding and absorption, violent conflict with Homo sapiens, and – intriguingly – the domestication of the dog by humans.
A cocktail may look like this: the arrival of Homo sapiens from Africa also brought African pathogen (e.g., virus, bacterium, prion, fungus, viroid, or parasite) to the Neanderthal who had already adapted to European pathogen. This caused major and widespread diseases to the Neanderthal. A weakened Neanderthal population could neither compete with Homo sapiens nor survive the severe Last Glacial Maximum which started some 100,000 years ago and reached its maximum 26,500 years ago.
Moreover, Homo sapiens operated in groups and used dogs in its hunt for food. “By contrast, there is no evidence of any kind that Neanderthals had any relationship with dogs and instead they appear to have continued to hunt mammoths and elks on their own, a punishing method for acquiring food”. (Guardian)
Intriguingly, the domestication of wolves may have changed our appearances as well. The wolf possesses white sclera as does Homo sapiens though, crucially, it is the only primate that has them. Thus the mutation conferring white sclera could have become increasingly common among modern humans 40,000 years ago and would have conferred an advantage on those who were hunting with dogs. “The main advantage of having white sclera is that it is very easy to work out what another person is gazing at,” added Shipman. “It provides a very useful form of non-verbal communication and would have been of immense help to early hunters. They would been able to communicate silently but very effectively.” (Guardian).
0 Comments