More evidence re Neanderthals

[eveheart]

As you mentioned, some scientists give a range, and I was just curious what your guess is... 
It seems like you and Tyler know it is more than the common current estimates.

I don't even try to arrive at a percentage, but mere common sense tells me that Neanderthal is not the only discrete DNA to be found in modern H. sapiens.

Perhaps the stigma that was ignorantly attached to Neanderthals is still too strong.

I think the stigma came from the idea that we have primate ancestors. Scientists looked for the "missing link" that divided us from the apes. That dividing line was especially important in reconciling science and Christian religions. Many lies have been fabricated in the name of that cause.

Perhaps the H. sapien sapien men were attracted by rare red-headed females, as sometimes happens even today.

Just look at what happened when the Conquistadores entered Mexico. There were women who fell for los ojos azules who were plundering their land, while the invaders fell for whatever females were in the area.

What got you attracted to your Neanderthal husband?  Explain all dimensions.

His foreign accent, to be sure.

How many children did you have with him? Describe how neanderthal your children look.

I have three children from an early marriage to a non-Neanderthal. His ancestry wasn't even from the Neanderthal zone. Of those three children, they all have a good dose of the ethnic look from my side of the family, with some of their father's side mixed in.
I saw The Croods without ever realizing that the two Homo branches were being depicted. LOL This thread reminds me more of the novel/movie The Clan of the Cave Bear.

[goodsamaritan]

Oh shucks, you didn't have babies with the Neanderthal?

But how about your Neanderthal husband's siblings? Or his children own children?
Or how about his entire clan?
From which part of the world does his Neanderthal family they trace their roots?
Maybe you can share info about them and their descendants.

[PaleoPhil]

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/new-studies-reveal-20-percent-neanderthal-genome-lives-modern-humans

All depends on the individual. Some will have more, some less. But there might be a few  around with as much as 85% Neanderthal DNA in them.

The first ever complete mapping of a Neanderthal genome found that the genomes of people living outside Africa today are composed of some 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA.  Now two new studies suggest that, taken collectively, about 20 percent of Neanderthal DNA still lives on in modern humans, influencing the skin, hair, and diseases that people have today. - See more at: http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/new-studies-reveal-20-percent-neanderthal-genome-lives-modern-humans#sthash.524Nwzyb.dpuf

Ah, crumb. At that link they arrived at the 20% figure by summing ALL the Neanderthal genes estimated to exist in all today's humans, not 20% in a single individual, like I had hoped. For that they gave a 1 to 4 percent figure, which is the sort of measly % estimate I usually see. That would mean that no one has more than 4% Neanderthal DNA, according to them. Quite the disappointment. I still refuse to accept that. LOL

I don't even try to arrive at a percentage, but mere common sense tells me that Neanderthal is not the only discrete DNA to be found in modern H. sapiens.

Quite correct, there were also the Denisovans and the Hobbit people and who knows who else. The Denisovans and Hobbits lived in different regions than Europe, though, so that wouldn't impact estimates of European DNA composition, and I would be plenty happy with your estimate regarding just Neanderthal vs. H. sapiens sapiens. I wasn't requesting estimates on other theoretical species. Would it be going too far for me to say that you think that 20% maximum Neanderthal DNA in a single European individual is too low an estimate?

I think the stigma came from the idea that we have primate ancestors.

Neanderthals have been portrayed much more negatively than H. sapiens sapiens, unfortunately, though that has been improving recently.

[TylerDurden]

Sorry, I should have altered my posts once I realised. But, yeah, I am sure there are plenty of other hominids' DNA in modern humans not just the  3 or 4  discovered so far. Weren't the Hobbit people determined to be just genetically deformed modern humans?

[PaleoPhil]

It hasn't yet been proven conclusively one way or another and there is still significant disagreement, AFAIK. At any rate, there are the Denisovans, so there was at least one other interbreeding species/subspecies beyond Neanderthalensis.

[TylerDurden]

It hasn't yet been proven conclusively one way or another and there is still significant disagreement, AFAIK. At any rate, there are the Denisovans, so there was at least one other interbreeding species/subspecies beyond Neanderthalensis.

  The 3rd one discovered is an archaic hominid population in Africa which interbred with modern humans:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaic_human_admixture_with_modern_humans

[PaleoPhil]

Ah yes, that's another one, thanks. Peter Frost wrote about it: http://evoandproud.blogspot.com/2012/12/years-end.html