Artistic reconstruction of Neanderthal-Modern Human Hybrid
It is pretty much a well known fact now that non-African people outside of Africa have anywhere from 1% to 3% or more Neanderthal DNA in them. It’s also known that between 35-45 kya as modern humans were spreading through Europe the Neanderthals began to disappear. What is less known is the some researchers believe that 40 kya some modern human genomes may have had much more Neanderthal DNA perhaps to the tune of at least twice as much.
I myself contend that some people have much more Neanderthal DNA in them and that their ancestors had even more Neanderthal DNA in their genes and that is why today we can see some people who have clearly Neanderthal features.
In 2015 a report appeared in the journal Nature concerning DNA recovered from a 40 kyr human bone unearthed in Romania that contained between 6% and 9% Neanderthal DNA. Some of that DNA was found in three large chromosome segments and what this suggests is that this individual had a Neanderthal ancestor only 4 to 6 generations back! This bone found in Romania is CLEAR EVIDENCE that Neanderthals were interbreeding with modern humans in Europe 35-45 kya with resulting hybrids being born!
Oase Jawbone, Romania
The Romanian bone is a jawbone dated at about 40 kyr. The jawbone is known as the “Oase Individual” due to the location in Romania of the cave in which it was found. The cave is known as Oase and also as Pestera. David Reich of the Harvard Medical School was senior author of the paper. He and his team sequenced DNA from the jawbone that was found in 2002. He noted that the skeletal remains showed morphological features that strongly suggested it was a Neanderthal-Modern Human hybrid. In addition to finding this discovery Reich and his team also found DNA evidence of an EARLIER HYBRIDIZATION between Neanderthals and modern humans!
Of course, this was not the first time such evidence for interbreeding of these two hominin species has been found and I’m sure it won’t be the last. DNA evidence for such hybridizastion has also been found in the Levant, specifically Israel. So it just wasn’t solely in Europe that Neanderthals and modern humans were interbreeding but it was also in the Levant and even elsewhere! What Reich and his team concluded was that as modern humans moved through historically Neanderthal territory they interbred with them “multiple times.” In other words this was not just a one or two time event but it appears to have happened frequently and widely!
Neanderthal-Modern Human comparison
In fact, researchers have several skeletal remains that have morphological traces of shared ancestry between modern humans and Neanderthals. As DNA techniques improve I’m sure we will find more and more genetic evidence for interbreeding between these two species and that we will also find that the truth is Neanderthals didn’t magically disappear or go extinct at all. I believe they were “assimilated” for lack of a better word by modern humans! Further, I am sure this will also turn out to be the case with other ancient human ancestors such as Homo erectus and Heidelbergensis et. al.!! And, this will transform our perception of human evolution proving that hybridization was the reason for the “disappearance” of these various species and NOT a matter of one species going extinct as a new species emerged. As I’ve noted before the NORM appears to have been SEVERAL ancient human species COEXISTING at the same time for various periods of time. I’m sure further research will only add more support to this notion and then we will be forced to look at our own modern-day species. I do not believe we are the exception! I do believe that there are still different species of humans running around today in our midst! We are NOT all the same, frankly!
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Wait? are implying that one species may not have “eaten” the other? lol So many things are pointing to what you are sharing here as a reality. 🙂
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No they did not eat each other….although….I suppose….a few may have…..if they really got hungry LOL.
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wow, you are really politically incorrect, like you said. your opinion and post will ruffle somebodies feathers in the creationist theory community and the white supremacist community. being born at least as politically incorrect, and probably a lot more sarcastic, i’m going to try to respond in a much more politically CORRECT way. There seems to be some unwritten rule in our society that we must be whiny politically correct delicate snow flakes. So, I am not “white”, nor are any of my kin from the Caucasian mountains. i am a Neanderthal European American. and i am proud of that. so all job apps must change to reflect that. since my Neanderthal ancestors were assimilated by the more modern H. Sapiens from Africa, much like the Borg do on Star Trek, (resistance is futile) i feel i am do some reparation and remuneration from Africa. Since some of my Neanderthal ancestors did go extinct, my people should be put on the endangered species list and i need the federal govt. to give me some funding to save my kind.
As we all know by the latest hit tv drama, CSA Transylvania, with it’s story lines ripped from today’s headlines, DNA does not lie. Because of your post , plus the scientific facts backing you up, the whole evolutionary tree has been turned upside down. Since my Neanderthal ancestors are an eentsie less modern than the H. Sapiens from Africa, that means that my people are an eentsie more closely related to chimps, and the whole “white supremacy” thaang is a total sham, and for centuries those white trash have lied to me and i am their kin. Because of the lies i have suffered emotional and psychological damage. where’s the govt.? where are my entitlements?
Like you said, this interbreeding has been going on for 40 thoouusand years, maybe more, with everybody around the globe, yet the white supremacy folks have their panties all bunched up, as well as full blown emotional kerfuffle going on about it all. that has been going on way to long. take a pill. i take it as a compliment that somebody else finds our females attractive. after all a healthy fit female is attractive, that’s genetically hardwired into all of us. we may not be looking for, but from time to time we have looked at the proverbial “other piece of ass.” 😉
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LOL you crack me up 🙂 You should have requested your entitlements while Obama was still around as Trump is not one to give out such things. Sooo guess you’ll have to wait until the next election and see who gets in and take it from there. Great comment and funny as hell!!
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Randolf… I am putting my Political Community Website back together. You would be a very welcome guest if you would honor us! Your political sense of humor is great! lol
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