This is an interesting read I thought I'd post since the topic seems to up frequently around here.

National Geographic article on Neandertals and Modern Humans interbreeding

The gist of the article:
A new study suggests that modern humans and Neandertals (often spelled Neanderthals) interbred fairly regularly and even mingled physical features as Homo sapiens spread across Europe some 35,000 years ago.

I find it interesting because it would suggest that Neandertals didn't "become extinct" per se, but instead were absorbed into the human race.

I think I've met a few!

My sister has dated and married only Neandertals!

I work with a bunch of them!

Do you work at "Geico?"






(running and ducking...)

I think I dated a few of them!

I like that notion that we are part Neanderthal. It is sad to think of another sentient species that went extinct.

With genetics, we build upon it. We don't replace it. Whatever came before us, we have that information in us. The uni-celled, the multi-celled, the weird fish and whatever came after that fish up to now. We built upon that DNA to get to where we are today. That we mixed neanders and homos at some point makes little difference since we had neander's DNA already. We built upon it. Indeed, we wouldn't have been able to reproduce with them if that were not the case.

So it makes no difference to our DNA heritage yet it confirms our DNA heritage.

In order to interbreed with humans Neanderthals must have been human. Or vice versa.

I like to think that parts of me are Neanderthal.

Well... I think it is semantics really. Horses and donkeys can breed. You just have to have enough DNA in common to pull it off. Is a horse a donkey? Is a donkey a horse? At what point is a horse/donkey hybrid horse-y enough to be considered a horse? Actually, they're called something else entirely, mules. And every now and then, mules are fertile and can also breed.

Thought I'd bump this rather than starting a new thread:

Neanderthal genes 'survive in us'

Read Rob J. Sawyer's "Hominids" trilogy. It's Science Fiction with an incredible amount of research supporting the science. A great read! Terrific author! (it has Neanderthals!)

When I first saw this picture of a "Neanderthal child," I was struck by how much it resembles more than one member of my family:

all this time i thought that we all came from neanderthals of some sort.
it seems that 'modern' humans were just there and interbred w neandertals. so where did modern humans come from?
somewhere along the way modern humans must not have been modern, no?