From all of the information I have gathered this week from the lectures and articles and videos, it is very clear to me that the discovery of Neanderthals played a huge role in shaping the way that researchers think about the fossil record and evolution.
According to the article, “The Great Migration,” Based on the fossil records collected of Neanderthals, we know that Neanderthals made tools (but none as sophisticated as ours today), hunted and killed large mammals (but were not as successful as modern humans), and buried their dead. This means that Neanderthals were a huge step closer to our modern humans form that we know today; they represent a form that is much closer to ours than the species before them. Knowing this information can help paleontologists construct a fairly direct path to our current human form.
According to the video, “The Neanderthal in Us,” Paleontologists have been able to study Neanderthals through fossilized evidence and more recently, they have been able to learn about Neanderthals through DNA. Researchers have found 2-4% of Neanderthal DNA in modern human DNA. Researchers were able to find fossilized Neanderthal remains in a limestone cave (which is how they were able to stay preserved for so long) and using these fossils, they are able to extract DNA and study it. They used the Neanderthal DNA found in the fossils and compared it to DNA of modern humans all over the world and found some Neanderthal DNA in the modern human DNA, but they found that this Neanderthal DNA was found more in European and Asian DNA than African, which is shocking considering the fact that these earlier species were discovered primarily in Africa.
In my opinion, this discovery of Neanderthal DNA within modern humans is probably the most important discovery to come out of the study of Neanderthal fossilized remains. Because of this discovery, researchers can now dive into an area of research that essentially studies the ways that this Neanderthal DNA can affect our current human form directly. There could be many different things that we could learn about the way that modern humans behave and function that could be because of the Neanderthal DNA directly in our genes. This discovery also sparks a new way of thinking about our own lives. Modern humans have always felt so far evolved from these former primitive forms, but having 2-4% of Neanderthal DNA within us is not as far removed as we might have thought. Maybe we are much more similar to these primitive forms than we may believe. This makes me wonder how much of this evolved behavior that modern humans exhibit is actually due to nature, or if any of it stems from the way we are raised/how society has run (nurture).
Overall, the study of Neanderthal remains has played a huge role in what we know about modern humans, and how we think about the evolution into the modern human form. I know that this has changed the way that I think about my own life and DNA.
Hi Julia,
I liked that you mentioned the article, “The Great Migration”. It was interesting that they found so many different behaviors that the Neanderthals did. I think knowing a lot of these behaviors led anthropologist to construct how humans have evolved. I also think the findings of Neanderthals are one of the most important discoveries. I also love the point when you said although many think we are far from primates, we might be more similar to them as we think. I think this is true in many aspects. I also liked that you referred to the video, “The Neanderthal in Us”. I think it’s interesting that 2-4% of their DNA is the same as modern human DNA. Thank you for sharing, I really enjoyed reading yours.
Hi Julia. It also really surprised me that we share 2-4% of neanderthal DNA. I agree that we like to think that we have evolved far enough away that we are nothing like them at this point, but this is clearly not true, we have more in common with them than we think. It was also curious that these results didn’t come from African DNA as much, even though they started there. I wonder why. I’m glad anthropologists were able to find these fossilized remains, since they can help us understand how we evolved more and continue to put the pieces together. When we think of migration, we think about how modern humans have migrated from one place to another, but not our ancestors. I wonder what we will discover in the future!
As pervious commenters stated, it’s truly fascinating that we share 2-4% of our DNA with our Neanderthal relatives. I wish we could have time machines to observe the interactions between the two species. How intertwined we our pre-historic communities? Did Neanderthals teach humans stone tool techniques and we improved upon them? There are so many questions that could so easily be answered with a time machine. To refer back to facts from previous lectures, humans also share 98-99% of our DNA with chimpanzees. I wonder what would happen if scientists compared Neanderthal DNA with that of chimpanzees? Since Homo sapiens are descendants of Homo erectus and Neanderthals are a branch from the Homo erectus line, the common ancestor between us and chimpanzees, logically, should be the same common ancestor between Neanderthals and chimpanzees. It’s just a curious thought.
Hi Julia,
I agree with you that Neanderthals played a huge role in shaping the way that researchers think about fossil record and evolution. Neanderthals had so many similarities to modern humans that I discovered this week. Neanderthals are a big help to scientists carving out the past to understand clearly how we got where we are today. It was interesting to me that we still share some DNA with Neanderthals. The way you pointed out that Neanderthal DNA can affect our genes and should be looked into even more was really intriguing. I did not even think about it that much to realize just how important that might be. This just makes me wonder how long will it be before evolution eventually makes it so that we no longer share DNA with Neanderthals or maybe some of this shared DNA is what continues to help us thrive.