5 ms·

The scientific consensus is that they are clearly a separate species, but there are varying ways to define these boundaries. For a primer, you can read up more

by epups 3y ago

The scientific consensus is that they are clearly a separate species, but there are varying ways to define these boundaries. For a primer, you can read up more here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-neanderthals-same-species-as-us.html https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-neanderthals-same-species... Regarding your particular point about identifying "neanderthal DNA", consider that most genes are made up of thousands of base pairs. Even though there might be individual variation, it is trivial to distinguish between, say, chimpanzee and human versions of certain genes based on what we know about the populations. We also know the rate of evolution of genes and how they diverge, which means we can be pretty sure that a given version was acquired through interbreeding versus spontaneous mutation.

Anotheroneagain 3y ago
Nobody claims that we interbred with chimps though. And there is the recent historic evidence. Native Americans look very neandertalish in old photos, and even older drawings suggest that they used to look even more so. The difference is so stark that they were believed to have been pretty much exterminated, until DNA showed that they probably joined the Spanish, and their descendants now call themselves "Mexicans"... When they adopted European lifestyle, they started looking almost white. Or the Chinese. Slanted eyes used to be seen as the defining feature of Chinese people. Almost no modern Chinese have slanted eyes today. It can still be seen occasionally in people who came from some isolated place in Western China, or something like that, but it seems absurd that something so rare could make it into a stereotype. Too much weight is put on genes. I think it's somebody's nice fantasy that we solve all our problems through gene editing, but it isn't so.

5 ms·

The scientific consensus is that they are clearly a separate species, but there are varying ways to define these boundaries. For a primer, you can read up more

by epups 3y ago

Anotheroneagain 3y ago
Nobody claims that we interbred with chimps though. And there is the recent historic evidence. Native Americans look very neandertalish in old photos, and even older drawings suggest that they used to look even more so. The difference is so stark that they were believed to have been pretty much exterminated, until DNA showed that they probably joined the Spanish, and their descendants now call themselves "Mexicans"... When they adopted European lifestyle, they started looking almost white. Or the Chinese. Slanted eyes used to be seen as the defining feature of Chinese people. Almost no modern Chinese have slanted eyes today. It can still be seen occasionally in people who came from some isolated place in Western China, or something like that, but it seems absurd that something so rare could make it into a stereotype. Too much weight is put on genes. I think it's somebody's nice fantasy that we solve all our problems through gene editing, but it isn't so.