Archive for the tag 'Neanderthals'

Oct 27 2008

Did Neanderthals and Humans Mate? Absence of Evidence is Not Evidence of Absence

Published by MattC under news

The Spittoon has pointed out several times in the last few months (here, here and here) that when researchers look for evidence of interbreeding between early humans and Neanderthals, they often fail to find any.
But there are still a number of geneticists who would like us to pay heed to the words of former defense [...]

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Aug 07 2008

Did Neanderthals and Humans Mate? The Answer, Again, is No

Published by ErinC under news

Despite mounting genetic evidence that modern humans are not descended from Neanderthals, there are still some who argue that our two species interbred when both roamed Europe about 35,000 years ago.
A report appearing tomorrow in the journal Cell puts another nail in that theory’s coffin. Svante Paabo’s group at the Max Planck Institute for Anthropology [...]

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Jul 15 2008

I’m No Neanderthal, and Neither Are You

Published by AnneH under big questions, genetics 101

The place of Neanderthals in the story of human evolution has been hotly debated for decades.  A distant cousin to our species, Neanderthals had already been in Europe over 250,000 years when Homo sapiens first arrived there 35,000 years ago.
Often called Cro-Magnoids, these first Europeans are believed by many scientists to have out-competed the Neanderthals, [...]

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