Pipedal Locomotion In Neanderthals

1137 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Similarities between modern day humans and neanderthals

Based on certain morphological bone structure and the presence of bipedal locomotion in Neanderthals has made it possible to classify them as part of Modern Humans’ family tree/ phylogenetic tree. The time of their existence also contributes to this classification; making Neanderthals the closest related Hominids to modern humans (Noonan, 2010: 547). However, even with that acknowledgment, there are constant debates about Neanderthals relationship to modern humans and if they are the direct ancestors of what we considered modern Europeans, if they contributed some genes to our species, modern humans, or if they were fully replaced by modern humans without gene contribution (Krings et. al., 1997: 19).
These debates have brought up many studies …show more content…

Not only was the data compared to human DNA but with chimpanzee DNA, in order to see the closeness or related ness to modern humans. Results based on Krings’ study show “that Neanderthal sequence diverged from the lineage leading to the current human mtDNA gene pool well before the time of the most recent common ancestor of human mtDNAs” (1997: 25). Based on the results from this sequencing they continue to support the idea that modern humans as a species started in Africa as a different species; which then replaced Neanderthals with little to no interbreeding (Krings et. al., 1997: …show more content…

We can also assume that since the modern human species diverged after the Neanderthal species, the modern human species took over and was one of the major competitors to Neanderthals as supposed to interbreeding with them. In addition, we can also say that there was an abundance of modern human species in comparison to Neanderthals allowing modern humans the best opportunity to reproduce within any given period, passing on favorable variations. Darwin’s theory of natural selection (1859) supports this assumption when he

Show More
Related

  • Proof that Humans Interbred with Neanderthals

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the last few hundred years, more and more has been added to the world’s fossil collection, fossils from all over the world. New theories have been created and old theories have almost been proven about the evolution of man. For example, we have proof that different species of man existed with certain types of DNA sequences and instincts, some we may not have anymore, or some that other species did not have back then. Even though it is subjected to much debate, one of the most widely accepted theories however, is that Homo sapiens interbred with the slightly more primitive species of man, the Neanderthal.

    Read More

  • Ardipithecus Ramidus Kadabba: The Oldest Hominid

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilford, J. (2004).Another Branch of Early Human Ancestors Is Reported by Scientists. [Online], March. Available at: http://gateway.proquest.com [Accessed 28 March 2004].

    Read More

  • Tool-use in Chimpanzees

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chimpanzees make tools and use them to procure foods and for social exhibitions; they have refined hunting tactics requiring collaboration, influence and rank; they are status cognizant, calculating and capable of trickery; they can learn to use symbols and understand facets of human language including some interpersonal composition, concepts of number and numerical sequence and they are proficient in spontaneous preparation for a future state or event.

    Read More

  • Chimpanzees and Bonobos

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is said that the humanoid existence begins in Africa. It is no coincidence that Africa is also the home to Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, and Bonobos, Pan paniscus. These are humans’ two closest living relatives, both sharing almost 99% of the human genome through common descent. While humans were said to have separated from Chimpanzees around 5-7 million years ago , Bonobos separated from its Chimp cousins around 2 million years ago . Bonobos inhabit a single part of Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo South of the Congo River, unlike the Chimpanzee, which inhabits Across West- and Central Africa, with remaining populations distributed over several countries. While these two apes where once thought to be the same species, up until the beginning of the 20th century , there are many differences socially, as well as physically, that make Bonobos more than a Pygmy Chimp. With disparities in morphology, behavior, perhaps even emotions and cognition, and known as the “make love, not war chimp” , how can this ape be so vastly different from its notoriously violent Pan cousin, but yet share the same amount of similar DNA to Homo sapiens? And what does this mean for the studies of human and past humanoid behavior?

    Read More

  • Tracing Human migration paths through Mitochondrial DNA

    1868 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mitochondrial DNA has a lot of characteristics and features which makes its use very essential in determining the spread of humans throughout the world. Human mitochondrial DNA is solely inherited from mothers. A human’s mitochondrial DNA is the same as his mother’s mitochondrial DNA, which is the same as her mother’s mitochondrial DNA. Researchers can estimate a probability distribution of ancestors’ genes and migration paths through time if they are given a set of mitochondrial gene sequences. It is assumed that all mitochondrial DNA types in the human gene pool can ultimately be traced back to a common matrilineal ancestor that lived approximately 200,000 years ago in Africa.(Oven et al, 386) All human mitochondrial DNA can be traced back to a single mitochondrial DNA known as “mitochondrial Eve”, who lived in Africa a long time ago. Mutations are m...

    Read More

  • Early Hominids and The Pleistocene and Holocene Eras

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever since the Pleistocene era, human societies have expanded rapidly, developing innovative ways to defend their territories and migrate across the land. Consisting of an aggregate of humans living together, these societies became more powerful as time progressed by consuming more meat (megafauna). Supporting this development, the more mammals that humans would eat, the more protein their bodies would absorb. When humans consume high amounts of protein, they develop stronger muscles, which leads to the stimulation of brain activity. By way of further explanation, amino acids from the proteins are used to make the neurotransmitters that allow your brain cells to network and communicate. Amino acids that come from the protein you eat are the building blocks of your brain’s network. They can excite or calm your brain as well as nourish your brain throughout its lifetime. Also, they allow the body's own proteins to be used to support life, particularly those found in muscle. This led humans to develop intelligence and create a wide variety of tools. These tools are what the early hominids used to develop their culture into that of hunter-gatherer-fishers, making humans a more dominant mammal within that ecosystem.

    Read More

  • Neanderthals and Homo sapiens

    2241 Words  | 5 Pages

    In recent years, the Homo Neanderthalensis were viewed as “subhuman brutes”, but are now seen as a different species from our own (Balter 2001). The Neanderthals were a branch of the Homo genus that evolved in Eurasia at least 200,000 years ago (Fagan 2010). The first Neand...

    Read More

  • Factors in the Evolution to Bipedalism

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    The evolution of the human species has significantly changed during the course of evolution to what is now the modern day Homo sapiens. Some of the changes that have occurred through the evolution are bipedalism, changes in body features such as brow ridges, and an increase in brain capacity.

    Read More

  • Neanderthals

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    From the ancient bones of the Neanderthals, scientists have been able to extract small amounts of DNA. The DNA comparisons to modern humans show no relationship, implying evolutionary separation (Kunzig, 159). Some anthropologists say the small sections of DNA found are not conclusive evidence, because modern humans show just as much variation in DNA. These people point out that individuals such as the “Portugal Kid” are hybrids of Neanderthals and modern humans, showing there was gene trading. One argument against this is that there is no skull from the ‘Portugal Kid” so it is hard to compare it to Neanderthals. Also, it is known that closely related species can breed and their offspring can be fertile, but they are still separate species (Kunzig, 161).

    Read More

  • Neanderthal Extinction

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Origins of Bigfoot

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    What did the early American pioneers see when traveling the uninhabited wilderness of the early 1800’s? Could they have be seeing a black bear standing momentarily on its hind legs or was it actually what we now call Bigfoot today (“The Canadian Encyclopedia”). The origin of Bigfoot dates even further back to Native American myths portraying a large aggressive ape like animal walking on its hind legs eating children and animals (“New World Encyclopedia”). Since then there have been thousands of reports of supposed Bigfoot sightings including footprints, photos, videos and the actual carcass of a deceased Bigfoot. For over 80 years scientist have been discrediting the thought of the existence of Bigfoot, but throughout time scientist have begun to adapt to the fact that there might be a possible large unidentified animal walking throughout our wilderness today. The fact that there might be a Bigfoot like animal walking through our forests today sparks imagination but has there been enough information that we can conclude that there is an animal that has not been identified.

    Read More

  • Interbreeding Between Neandertals and Modern Humans

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    The human archaeological record is a long and undefined story that may be the most complex question researched today. One of the big questions in human history is the disappearance of the Neanderthal people from the archaeological record around 30,000 BP. While for thousands of years Neanderthals and Anatomically modern humans crossed paths and perhaps lived in close relations, we have yet to really understand the degree to which they lived together. My hypothesis is that these two hominids, Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans, interbred exchanging genes after Modern Humans dispersed from Africa and creating like cultures and material remains. The differences between Neanderthal and Modern humans are not only physical but also genetically evolved and this research will determine an estimated amount of admixture between the two groups.

    Read More

  • Different Theories of the Creation of the World

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the findings that help support the theory of evolution is the Neanderthals. Neanderthals are people who started living around 190,000 years ago and died out only about 28,000 years ago. Neanderthals look very much like y...

    Read More

  • Neanderthal Essay

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to European fossil records, Neanderthals appeared about 400,000 years ago and they evolved and then disappeared around 30,000 years ago. Neanderthals lived in Europe and Western Asia as far east as Southern Siberia and as far south as the Middle East. During this time, it is suggested that Neanderthals came into contact with anatomically modern humans. There is a lot of controversy over whether or not they actually interbred. Morphological features of present-day humans and anatomically modern human’s fossils have been the evidence that is for and against a genetic exchange between Neanderthals and the ancestors of present-day humans. DNA sequence data from present-day humans is also evidence that Neanderthals have made a genetic contribution to present-day humans (Green 1).

    Read More

  • Out Of Africa Theory Essay

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    The origin of modern humans has been debated for years. On either side of the debate lies the multi-regional theory, and the Out of Africa theory. The multi-regional theory states that Homo erectus left Africa, and after separating into different regions, collectively evolved into the modern humans we see today. The Out of Africa theory states that modern humans evolved in Africa, and then migrated to different regions. In this theory, it is believed that modern humans replaced all other descendants of Homo erectus. The Out of Africa theory is generally more accepted, and the evidence in favor of it is compelling. Much of the evidence for the multi-regional theory has been falsified. However, there are still strong supporters for each theory.

    Read More

More about Pipedal Locomotion In Neanderthals

Open Document