I canβt wrap my head around it. Wouldnβt the offspring of a Homo sapiens and a Neanderthal be a hybrid, and as such, sterile? How, then, is it said that some people today have Neanderthal DNA?
Hey guys and dolls,
Dna studies suggest modern human populations share DNA with other extinct humans. For example Europeans tend to have Neanderthal DNA which is extremely rare in Sub Saharan populations. Similarly many native Ocreanic populations, such as Aboriginal Australians, share Donisovan DNA.
But many of these Homos (yeah I said it) that lived with early Homo Sapiens are often considered different species. So why is this if DNA evidence suggests that they could interbreed and produce fertile offspring?
And did they think that Homo sapiens bred with Homo antecessor too?
We are genetically different from pure Homo Sapiens Sapiens that lived tens of thousands of years ago that had no Neanderthal DNA. So shouldn't we create a new classification?
As Neanderthals are thought to be kinder and more creative, and less violent than their barbaric neighbors, which ultimately lead to their demise (at least in some theories, there quite a lot of those around). As title says, would the world be a better place now, if modern humans were more Homo Neanderthalensis than Homo Sapien?
If I got something really wrong, pardon my ignorance. I'm fascinated by history, but not very knowledgeable in the specifics.
Let's say that some species of Homo apart from Homo sapiens survive to the modern day. Human technological development it's not altered, and right now we are at the same technological level than in OTL. So, my question is, how we would treat those species? Will we see them as "Human" and just treat them as a "race" instead than as a species? Will we see them as animals? Or as something that is in the middle between humans and animals?
How will religions treat them? Will they be intelligent enough to adapt easy to Homo sapiens's technology and society? Will they be able to form complex nations?
Spear the strong caveman in Primal seems to be a species of human, but what kind? Spear appears to be a species of extinct humans called Homo neanderthalensis. They are the closest extinct relatives of humans. Living at Europe, Southwestern to Central Asia, 400,000-40,000 years ago. Also called Neanderthal, they have large middle parts of their face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose (a adaptation to the humidifying and warming cold, dry air of their environment). Neanderthals have large brain just like ours. A intelligent mind that created different types of tools. They had also tamed fire, lived in shelters, created clothing, and were skilled hunters. Even buried and left offerings to deceased love ones. All of this these traits are similar to Spear. As he creates tools for hunting and was very good at hunting prey. He also tamed fire for heat and cooking food. He had made and wore clothing in cold places. So Spear is a Homo neanderthalensis.
I am reading a book that states what separates species is the ability to mate and have fertile offspring. How are Neanderthals and Homo sapiens separate species if we know that Homo sapiens have Neanderthal DNA? Wouldnβt the inheriting of DNA require the mating and production of fertile offspring?
I donβt have a lot of time, so I couldnβt possibly explain the Anastasis Project in detail. All you need to know is that it was a bold and very well-funded venture, involving scientists, paleontologists, historians, programmers and a lot of other professionals from around the globe.
As a relatively well-known historian, I had the privilege and the despair of being one of the department coordinators. The other heads were Dr. Vega, a brilliant scientist, Mr. Bisset, a friendly French paleontologist, and Miss Gagnon, a woman young enough to be my daughter, who developed a software and the neurotransmissors to upload modern language on the Neanderthalsβ brains once they woke up, so we were all able to communicate.
My name is Anne Lestrange, and I came to peace with the fact that thereβs nothing else that I can do. I can only document what happened so in the future no one else will try again the same disastrous things we did.
Itβs bittersweet for a historian to die this way.
***
It all started when a certain billionaire whose name Iβll omit got two nearly perfectly preserved Neanderthals on an auction. He then contacted Dr. Vega, his good friend.
βYou think you could reconstruct them and make them alive?β
Dr. Vega replied βwith the right team and infinite budget, sureβ. And the billionaire said βconsider it doneβ.
The scientist then asked what for. Of course, eccentric billionaires donβt need a good reason to waste their money and other peopleβs time, but then our bossβ reckless demeanor changed.
βBecause I want to ask them why they were extinct.β
Dr. Vega told this story over and over, always making it sound more impressive than the former. I confess that it gave me goosebumps on the first time; I always wanted to know it as well. The Neanderthals had been around for over 150,000 years when they disappeared, and no one knows why.
We scholars like to believe that they werenβt as adaptable as the Sapiens, but what could be best than asking them in person?
It then became Dr. Vegaβs project of a lifetime, and I was one of the first people to join him. Just to find the right team, it took him two years. We spent five more years working on bioengineering, historical research, and finally, how to reanimate them.
Countless tests were performed in animals to determine the exact electric current that would force their axons to start working and their reconstructed hearts to pump oxygen through their bodies.
Then today was the big day. *The first test to
... keep reading on reddit β‘
I understand that neanderthals were a species of hominids separate from Homo sapiens, however I also understand that interbreeding between these two species occurred. My question is how can these groups be defined as separate species if they were able to reproduce and create viable offspring? From my understanding the definition of a species is a group of similar organisms able to produce viable offspring who can also reproduce. Please critique any misunderstandings I have and explain how interbreeding plays into speciation.
Recently, I was discussing the two with a friend, when the question came up: how could they have been separate species if they could reproduce and create viable offspring? Iβm aware of the physical differences between the two, but wouldnβt they be the same species if they could reproduce?
Let's say that some species of Homo apart from Homo sapiens survive to the modern day. Human technological development it's not altered, and right now we are at the same technological level than in OTL. So, my question is, how we would treat those species? Will we see them as "Human" and just treat them as a "race" instead than as a species? Will we see them as animals? Or as something that is in the middle between humans and animals?
How will religions treat them? Will they be intelligent enough to adapt easy to Homo sapiens's technology and society? Will they be able to form complex nations?
