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[PHOENIXZERO]

I believe we have yet to find the missing link, let alone the missing links sexual foray.

We have found a lot of "missing links".

 

[Billy_Pilgrim]

The book 'Sapiens' covers all of this stuff.

I'll preface this by admitting that I really don't have a good understanding of anything that I'm about to talk about, but I've always been of the impression that modern science treats interbreeding between species as a taboo and write it off far too quickly. Yes, many offspring are born sterile but over the course of hundreds of thousands of years the odds of a species evolving through interbreeding doesn't seem that unrealistic.

 

[Makai]

Maladaptation probably led to the Neanderthal demise not one on one conflict.

How might they have been maladapted? They weren't too different from homo sapiens, right?

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

The book 'Sapiens' covers all of this stuff.

I'll preface this by admitting that I really don't have a good understanding of anything that I'm about to talk about, but I've always been of the impression that modern science treats interbreeding between species as a taboo and write it off far too quickly. Yes, many offspring are born sterile but over the course of hundreds of thousands of years the odds of a species evolving through interbreeding doesn't seem that unrealistic.

Not taboo. Though there is the issue of definitions - if two members of different populations can interbreed, they're the same species by definition. However, what about populations that are genetically compatible but don't interbreed due to behaviour? What about ring species, where every individual can interbreed with contiguous populations but cannot with individuals on the opposite ends of the ring?

Depending on how you define it, it's not hybridisation.

 

[ShinMaruku]

Maybe neanderthal gave us light skin and straight hair?

Straight hair was derived in Asia, the light skin ouccured in the middle east

do you mean Homo heidelbergensis?

Yup

I am at least 50% Neanderthal.

Or at least that's what my wife tells me, and she has an anthropology degree.

50% Nah but you might have .5-8% in you.

Blatant fact, but the exact nature and context of such interbreeding is unclear.

It's a bit of an ambiguous thing since, genetically speaking, it must mean we and Neanderthals were still close enough that we could produce viable offspring, unlike most hybrid species. Ie, this was not the human equivalent of a liger we're talking about. It's also unclear if it would have truly been so widespread so as to create whole populations of Neaderthal-Sapien peoples, or if a 'few' (say, couple thousand scattered across Eurasia) select incidents in otherwise Homo Sapien populations managed to spread to everyone outside of sub-Saharan Africa.

Given that both came from the same ancestor the cross breeding could very well be viable. Also some hybrids can breed, female tigons can cross breed but in general it will either be a tiger or a lion. The males would be strile. Cross breeding is very odd, in birds there is also viability.

It's more like dogs and wolves, so yes basically same species. Not a true sterile hybrid.

We are seperate species not like a dog and wolf. They are Neanderthals and we are sapiens sapiens a spin off of Homo Sapiens.

I am a molecular biology student and funnily enough one of my projects is comparing the genome of us and the neanderthals to find where some of the differences lie.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

How might they have been maladapted? They weren't too different from homo sapiens, right?

Scientists hypothesize that Neanderthals were possibly too well adapted to the Ice Age to the point when the world started to warm up they couldn't survive in the now warmer world like we could.

 

[ShinMaruku]

There is evidence that how they adapted was a really bad point for adaptation. For starters how they hunted was really not energy efficient, they would rush and ambush prey and suffered injury often. Unlike us who are the consummate pursuit predator who can pace something for a long time until they get tired and we used throwing spears to hunt making us much more flexible. We also ate much more varied things than they did.

I don't think we killed them all off on purpose it could be a mixture of disease we brought from Africa with us, to climate and we just out competing them.

 

[Escape Goat]

I can't believe I'm part of the same genus as you guys. I'm embarrassed to call myself homo.

 

[a Master Ninja]

I have all my wisdom teeth and they fit perfectly in my ape-like jaw. I am the Neanderthal x Human hybrid.

 

[gate stormer]

In recent months I have found this subject quite fascinating in combination with the subject of cryptids (mainly Sasquatch and Dogman).

I was recently considering starting a thread to see what GAF's thoughts were on the subject of cryptids. I have never seen a Sasquatch or Dogman, nor do I have any proof, however there are several hotspots of activity and accounts that occur even to this day.

No, I'm not talking about these dumbass shows like "Finding Bigfoot" either.

IMHO, there is no reason for countless people to make up stories about seeing Sasquatch or Dogman. Most people are reluctant to talk about their encounters, due to fear of criticism or people thinking they are crazy. In regards to Sasquatch, people report that they look anything from more ape like to human like.

In the U.S. they are referred to multiple names such as Boogers (Main name used in the south and believed to be related to the term Boogie Man), Skunkapes, etc.

The really weird and creepy cryptid (not directly related to neanderthals necessarily), is Dogman. Encounters happen less frequently, however are commonly referred to as a giant wolf that can walk and stand on 2 legs. Not always, but a common part of people's encounter includes their joints making a loud popping/snapping noise as they move from standing on all 4's to standing up. Sounds like the stuff of nightmares and Hollywood I know.

People also report them having use claw like fingers similar to a racoon.

If you want to hear some creepy shit, you should lookup Dogman Encounters on youtube.

 

[ShinMaruku]

I can't believe I'm part of the same genus as you guys. I'm embarrassed to call myself homo.

So you are ashamed to be wise?

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

In recent months I have found this subject quite fascinating in combination with the subject of cryptids (mainly Sasquatch and Dogman).

I was recently considering starting a thread to see what GAF's thoughts were on the subject of cryptids. I have never seen a Sasquatch or Dogman, nor do I have any proof, however there are several hotspots of activity and accounts that occur even to this day.

No, I'm not talking about these dumbass shows like "Finding Bigfoot" either.

IMHO, there is no reason for countless people to make up stories about seeing Sasquatch or Dogman. Most people are reluctant to talk about their encounters, due to fear of criticism or people thinking they are crazy. In regards to Sasquatch, people report that they look anything from more ape like to human like.

In the U.S. they are referred to multiple names such as Boogers (Main name used in the south and believed to be related to the term Boogie Man), Skunkapes, etc.

The really weird and creepy cryptid (not directly related to neanderthals necessarily), is Dogman. Encounters happen less frequently, however are commonly referred to as a giant wolf that can walk and stand on 2 legs. Not always, but a common part of people's encounter includes their joints making a loud popping/snapping noise as they move from standing on all 4's to standing up. Sounds like the stuff of nightmares and Hollywood I know.

People also report them having use claw like fingers similar to a racoon.

If you want to hear some creepy shit, you should lookup Dogman Encounters on youtube.

Undiscovered large mammals are super rare, to the point where when it happens, it makes headline news. The Saola, for instance was first described in 1993 and photographed by wandering into a photo trap. It was kind of a big deal. The bigger something is, the harder it is for it to hide, especially something that has a limited range near populated areas.

Concentrate your vision on a fixed point in the middle distance. Really pay attention to what's in focus and what isn't. You'll find that the part of your vision that's actually in focus is tiny, about the size of the moon in the sky. Your vision is always like this, but you hardly notice because your brain is really good at reconstructing your environment based on patterns it recognises and your memories and it does it in real time (same thing happens in your dreams - your brain doesn't need visuals input to create really vivid experiences). Also remember that the human brain is designed to recognise human faces and human shapes, to the point of imagining them even when they're not there.

I cannot say it's impossible for a large undescribed hominid to be out there in the woods somewhere, but the chances aren't good compared to the more mundane explanations.

 

[HaloRose]

I am at least 50% Neanderthal.

Or at least that's what my wife tells me, and she has an anthropology degree.

God i love this guy

 

[adamsappel]

I'm all about The Hobbits.

 

[The Artisan]

either the child on the left or the right is the Labedo child which is the missing link aka the skeleton of the neanderthal-human hybrid that was retrieved.

It is a fact that neanderthal DNA are found in modern homo sapiens. The exact details of how the encorporation transpired is theoretical. An important thing to note is that scientific theories are always rooted in fact.

Thank you. That needs to be said again, and again.

OP, it's like you said, there's plenty of DNA evidence to back it up.

there are some scientists who still dispute it and say it never happened, though. that's why it confuses me.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/sci...t-interbreed-with-humans-scientists-find.html

this is the only url I could find although it is outdated, I could've sworn I saw a more recent one but I couldn't find it

People should stop thinking neanderthals were some stupid barbarians. They probably were not and had a deep spirituality. It seems they were not as innovative as homo sapiens when it comes to tools though.

yep. they were semi artistic, they buried their dead, they sang, and they may have even had religion.

If people are interested in a basic run through of this, the walking with cavemen series by BBC is very nice!

can you post a link to that please?