Neanderthals

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'Pit of Bones' Yields Oldest Human DNA —and a Mystery

Bones in Spain linked to distant Asian population

(Newser) - Technological breakthroughs have allowed scientists to sequence human DNA from an astonishing 400,000 years ago—but analysis of an ancient leg bone has raised more questions than answers, the BBC reports. Researchers were surprised to find that the early human whose remains were unearthed in Spain's "Pit...

Surprise: Neanderthals Were Fine Housekeepers

Study finds they organized domestic space much like humans

(Newser) - Archeologists have unearthed more evidence that Neanderthals weren't the brutes their name suggests. Turns out, they kept well-organized caves, reports Phys.Org . Researchers working in Italy say the caves were separated into distinct areas—one at the rear used for butchering and preparing game, one near the middle with...

Maybe Neanderthals Weren&#39;t Such ... Neanderthals
Maybe Neanderthals Weren't Such ... Neanderthals 
STUDY SAYS
Aug 13, 2013 8:45 AM CDT

Maybe Neanderthals Weren't Such ... Neanderthals

Scientists find they were making bone tools long before humans arrived

(Newser) - Researchers have found what they say are specialized bone tools made by Neanderthals in Europe thousands of years before modern humans are thought to have arrived to share such skills, a discovery that suggests modern man's distant cousins were more advanced than we thought. In a paper published yesterday...

Neanderthals Got Tumors, Too
 Neanderthals Got Tumors, Too 
Jun 6, 2013 9:05 AM CDT

Neanderthals Got Tumors, Too

Researchers find the oldest one ever

(Newser) - Looks like cavemen had to deal with tumors, too. Scientists have found evidence of the oldest tumor on record in the rib of a Neanderthal who lived roughly 130,000 years ago, they revealed in PLOS One yesterday. The inch-long bone was dug up more than 100 years ago, but...

Now We Know How Long Neanderthals Breastfed
Now We Know How Long Neanderthals Breastfed
study says
May 23, 2013 1:07 PM CDT

Now We Know How Long Neanderthals Breastfed

It was a probably a relatively short span of 14 months, study says

(Newser) - The American Academy of Pediatrics would have smiled on at least one aspect of Neanderthal child-rearing: Chemical analysis of a fossilized tooth suggests that Neanderthal moms breastfed exclusively for seven months, then breastfed while supplementing with food for another seven, reports Australia's ABC Science . After that, the little knuckledragger...

Big Eyes Doomed Neanderthals

 Neanderthals 
 Doomed by 
 ... Big Eyes? 
STUDY SAYS
Mar 13, 2013 2:00 AM CDT

Neanderthals Doomed by ... Big Eyes?

Better eyesight used up vital brain power

(Newser) - The dark and gloomy weather of northern Europe caused the Neanderthals to develop bigger eyes—but their improved vision turned out to be their downfall, a new study finds. More of the Neanderthal brain was devoted to vision at the expense of high-level processing, leaving them ill-equipped to deal with...

Sorry, Would-Be Neanderthal Moms: Story a Big Mix-Up

George Church says the whole thing was a misunderstanding

(Newser) - If you were thinking of applying to be the "extremely adventurous" surrogate mom of a Neanderthal baby, we have bad news for you: The Harvard geneticist who was supposedly looking for such a woman now says the reports (which Newser got in on ) aren't true. "Definitely...

Wanted: 'Adventurous' Woman to Birth Neanderthal

Bringing Neanderthals back could save humanity, geneticist says

(Newser) - A Harvard professor has hatched a plan to bring back the Neanderthals—but he needs an "adventurous" female volunteer to deliver a knuckle-dragging bundle of joy. George Church, a geneticist who helped pioneer the Human Genome Project, says it is now possible to create artificial Neanderthal DNA from bone...

Earliest Matches Found at Dig Site

Stone and clay relics in Israel are 8,000 years old

(Newser) - Archaelogists say a set of peculiar, ancient artifacts might just be the earliest known matches. The cylindrical objects, fashioned from stone and clay, date back nearly 8,000 years. At first, scientists thought they were phallic cultural symbols, but then a group of Israeli researchers noticed a striking similarity to...

Signs Found of Mysterious Neanderthal 'Sister Species'

Evidence lives on in the DNA of modern-day Africans: scientists

(Newser) - Newly discovered bits of "foreign DNA" in modern Africans indicate that a mysterious "sister species" may have walked the earth with Neanderthals and humans, according to scientists. The DNA doesn't resemble DNA from any modern-day humans, nor from Neanderthals, whose DNA sometimes shows up in modern-day Europeans....

Cave Art Dates Back to Neanderthals
 Cave Art 
 Dates Back 
 to Neanderthals 
study says
Jun 14, 2012 5:30 PM CDT

Cave Art Dates Back to Neanderthals

Earliest work more than 40K years old

(Newser) - Our ancestors were artists far earlier than experts had believed, new dating techniques reveal. Paintings in El Castillo cave in northwestern Spain are at least 40,800 years old—the oldest ever found, and ancient enough that Neanderthals could have painted them. That would come as a surprise, since experts...

World's Oldest Instrument Discovered in Cave

Flutes may have helped early humans endure bitter cold

(Newser) - Researchers have identified two flutes made from mammoth ivory and bird bone as the world's oldest musical instruments, the BBC reports. Discovered in a cave in southern Germany, the flutes were likely fashioned 42,000 to 43,000 years ago, when early humans used them for religious ritual or...

What Really Killed Off Neanderthals (Hint: Not Us)

DNA evidence shows Ice Age probably killed most of them

(Newser) - So we didn't kill off the Neanderthals after all. That's the conclusion of researchers who analyzed Neanderthal-bone DNA and deduced that most of them died off in Western Europe during the Ice Age, long before encountering modern humans. A small Neanderthal group lived on for about 10,000...

First-Ever Neanderthal Paintings Discovered

Nerja caves in Spain contain art that pre-dates Homo sapiens

(Newser) - Cave paintings in Spain may be the oldest ever found and the first known by Neanderthal artists, New Scientist reports. Oddly resembling a DNA double helix, the paintings actually depict seals—which locals in Malaga, Spain, would have eaten at the time. Charcoal remains near the paintings, in Spain's...

How Much Caveman DNA Do You Have?

Company scours genome for Neanderthal heritage

(Newser) - If you've ever wondered whether your boorish ex or oafish boss may be closely related to our caveman ancestors, you can now officially prove it with a genetic test. Genome-mapping company 23andMe is offering "The Neanderthal Test" this holiday season. Simply submit your saliva and you can find...

Sex With Neanderthals Boosted Our Immunity

Scientists make 'stunning' discovery in genome comparison

(Newser) - Three years ago, scientists thought humans had never had sex with Neanderthals. Last year, they changed their tune—and now it looks like DNA passed down from Neanderthals has had a “profound impact” on our immune systems. Scientists compared a section of the modern human genome to the same...

'Human Invasion' Killed Off Neanderthals

Modern humans crowded Neanderthals out of Europe, study says

(Newser) - Modern humans may have ended the Neanderthals' 300,000-year dominance of Europe through sheer numbers instead of brain power, a new study claims. The researchers say the "human invasion" 40,000 years ago left the Neanderthals outnumbered 10 to 1 by the newcomers, forcing them into fierce competition for...

Unlocking the Mystery of Neanderthals' Big Nose

It wasn't oversize because of cold temps

(Newser) - If you think Neanderthals, with their broad foreheads and big noses, were, well, not so attractive, don't blame the cold for their looks . For 150 years, scientists have theorized that Neanderthals' distinctive appearance was an adaptation that allowed them to withstand ice-age Europe's freezing conditions—but new research has found...

Surprise: Neanderthals Liked Their Veggies, Too

New evidence suggests they didn't subsist on meat alone

(Newser) - Researchers have found evidence that suggests Neanderthals cooked and ate vegetables: Traces of fossilized vegetable matter were found in their teeth, and some of it appears to have been cooked. It could overturn the notion that Neanderthals were exclusive meat eaters and instead had a diet that was more sophisticated—...

Ancient Pinkie Reveals Your New Relatives

DNA helps decode history of Denisovans

(Newser) - A 30,000-year-old finger is pointing the way to a population of humans experts never knew existed. The pinkie bone, discovered in southern Siberia in what's known as the Desinova Cave, contains DNA that scientists used to sequence the entire genome of the young girl it belonged to, NPR reports....

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