Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis

The Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis were present during the end of the ice age, and were very adapted to living in this cold environment. Socially, the Homo sapiens neanderthalensis were also thought to be more advanced than species of the past. Bones of this species were also very robust as well as muscular. These characteristics were first thought to be signs that they were hard-working, but these same characteristics were also found in children; therefore, it is now believed this was a genetic trait instead Visual comparisons of phenotypic traits may be misleading and do not necessarily reflect the genotype that causes them to be expressed. Genotype may not be inferred directly from phenotype, in most cases. According to Darwin, any trait that is not heritable is not relevant to the study of evolution. Environmental Factors interact with genotypes to produce a phenotype within a reaction norm. It may be very difficult to “disentangle” environmental effects from inherited genetic control when the traits expressed have to do with shape and are the result of differential growth processes. This is further complicated by polygenic control of most phenotypic traits. One to one translations from genetic controls to single traits are rare. Most differences between Neanderthals and Modern Humans are related to size differences between skeletal elements, which are determined by growth processes. Perceptions of differences by researchers, and their implications, are often subject to the scientific climate of the time period of study.

Differences are measured using a point of similarity as a benchmark. There is an underlying assumption that theses points of similarity are in fact similar genetically. Positional analysis reveals that many o...

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...o accommodate brain growth. The first fossil hominid material to be discovered that of Neanderthal man, attracted even more controversy than the later discoveries of Australopithecus africanus and Homo erectus. The recent found provides good evidence that the earliest known recognizably modern humans lived in Africa. Examination of hominid remains indicates several trends, including changes in posture, cranial capacity brain size, and facial angle. Such trends are often misused, in popular illustrations, to give the impression that evolution has proceeded in a linear manner, from some primitive ancestor through a series of descendants, to culminate in our own species. It's important to remember that the evolutionary history of humans, as of most organisms, is best reconstructed as a bush, where there are often several related species in existence at any one time.