- #1
- 3,309
- 694
If Neanderthals and humans interbred, then they must have had a common ancestor that was also human. What is known about this common ancestor?
lavinia said:If Neanderthals and humans interbred, then they must have had a common ancestor that was also human. What is known about this common ancestor?
lavinia said:thanks for the links.
So it seems that man and Neanderthal man would have both been able to interbreed with Homo Heidelbergensis?
SW VandeCarr said:We clearly had a fairly recent common human ancestor and the Neanderthals apparently migrated to ice age Europe before modern humans did. When modern humans arrived, there may have been both competition and some interbreeding.
http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002947
lavinia said:interesting. If man and Neanderthals were not able to interbreed with their common ancestor and branched separately away from it, it would seem that the same species, mankind, evolved twice.
lavinia said:interesting. If man and Neanderthals were not able to interbreed with their common ancestor and branched separately away from it, it would seem that the same species, mankind, evolved twice.
SW VandeCarr said:Well, if H Heidelburgensis is the common ancestor, we would expect a mixed interbreeding population sometime during the period between -700 ka and -375 ka. With divergence, separate populations looking like modern humans and looking like Neanderthals would have developed. Since H Heidelburgensis was present in Europe, I suppose it's possible that the Neanderthals, as we know them, first appeared there and were adapted to the conditions there. It doesn't mean modern humans would have evolved twice. It means that when modern humans arrived but did not interbreed in Europe, they simply would have replaced the Neanderthals as they became extinct. If they did in fact interbreed, it challenges the idea that modern humans and Neanderthals are really distinct species.
You can imagine H Heidelburgensis living over a large area, with a population evolving toward modern humans in southern Africa and toward Neanderthals in Europe.
Grant Gussie said:You're statement
"If Neanderthals and man could not interbreed with their common ancestor then they were both different species from that ancestor"
is not quite right.
If humans and neadertals could (as seems likely) interbreed, they would most certainly have been able to interbreed with their common ancestor (if they were provided with the requisite time travel technology).
The ability to interbreed is really just a guidline for defining two different species. Fertile hybrids between recognized species are not common, but they are seen. For example wolves and coyotes are perfectly capable of interbreeding, but in the wild almost never do because of "cultural" reasons (they don't like each other) rather than biological. The genetic differences are not great enough to prevent cross-fertilization, but they are great enough that reproductive adults do not see each other as potential mates.
The barriers to human/neadertal interbreeding would similiarly be cultural, not biological. They would almost certainly have seen each other as rivals, and probably quite ugly (it is odd to thnk that a neandertal would find you quite homely). And if either saw a living heidlebergensis, they would have regarded him as being quite odd looking and not a particularily good catch either.
The relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans is that they are distant cousins. Neanderthals and modern humans share a common ancestor, but they evolved separately and have some genetic differences.
Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted for approximately 5,000 years in Europe. However, they may have overlapped for a longer period in other regions such as the Middle East and Asia.
Yes, genetic evidence suggests that interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans occurred when they coexisted in Europe. This means that some humans today carry a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA.
Neanderthals and modern humans had some physical differences, such as a larger and more robust build in Neanderthals. They also had different cultural practices, with Neanderthals being known for their tool-making skills and burials.
The exact reason for Neanderthals' extinction is still debated among scientists. Some theories suggest that they were outcompeted by modern humans, while others propose that environmental changes or disease may have played a role.