Neanderthals: A Genetic Analysis

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Neanderthals are an extinct group that prove to be the closest relatives to modern day humans. Years of research and studies show that “Neanderthal and human genomes are at least 99.5% identical,” (Noonan, 2006) and what an amazing discovery that is. We now know and can understand that the ancestors of modern day humans have mated with these Neanderthals and thus, the genes passed down. It is not yet clear just how much Neanderthal genes exist in humans today, however, an estimation says that “the DNA of the average person carries up to 4 percent of genetic sequences that coincide with those found in Neanderthal fossils.” (Creamer, 2014) Add in the fact that it is now believed, due to many recent studies, that the majority of the genes that determine our skin and hair color actually come from Neanderthal DNA. Another interesting statement comes from Benjamin Vernot, a geneticist at the University of Washington, who suggests that just because two people may both have 2% Neanderthal within them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the same Neanderthal DNA rather, they “might have inherited different portions of the Neanderthal genome.” (Choi, 2014) For years now, experimentations have been under way to try and determine exactly how much Neanderthal DNA may be mixed in with modern day human DNA.

Neanderthals: A Genetic Analysis

were summarized by Gibson: “…Neanderthals lacked fully modern speech…among members of the primate order, only humans can pronounce the sounds [i], [ u , and [a] and the velar consonants ] [g] and [k]. In addition, only humans can close off the nasal cavity from the oral cavity by raising the soft palate, thereby producing non-nasalized sounds. Using reconstructions of the vocal tract of a classic Neanderthal, La-Chapelle-aux-Saints, Lieberman concludes that Neanderthals also lacked the ability to pronounce…

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Neanderthals: A Genetic Analysis

The extinction of Neanderthals occurred thousands of years ago, but the question whether they interbred with modern humans remains unclear. Scientist claim that Neanderthals are seen as “transitional species” they fall in between homo erectus and modern humans, they lived with anatomically modern humans for long periods of time, but Neanderthals eventually went extinct and homo sapiens took over (Bonvillian and Miller 2013:274-275). The evidence used to support the answer whether modern humans and…

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Genetic Replacement Model

species are. Genetic information is valuable as it sheds light on hominid evolution and provides data on the approximate time when two species diverged from a single common ancestor and began evolving on their own. Therefore, similarities in the genetic code…

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Hominids Or Qafzeh-Skhul Early Modern Humans

Theodore McCown and Hallam L. Movius, Jr. in Mount Carmel, Israel, 1932. 5. They were initially regarded as transitional fossils between Neanderthals and modern humans. However, they are now regarded as a separate lineage from the Neanderthals, and may represent one of the first exodus of modern humans from Africa around 125,000 years ago. Neanderthal remains have been found nearby at Kebara Cave that date to 61,000-48,000 years ago, and it has been suggested that the Skhul/Qafzeh hominids had…

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