Scientists learned a lot about Neanderthals and human evolution from fossils. Neanderthals had very distinctive features. They had a much larger brains, compared to heidelbergensis. Modern humans also had smaller brains compared to them which was between 1350 and 1400 ccs. They had rounded crania, which was long and low. In this case, it was similar to heidelbergensis. Their most important distinctive feature was the presence of an occipital bun. This means they had a small bone protrusion behind their skull. Just like their large brains, they had large faces which consisted of huge nose and brow ridges. One interesting thing was that they appeared to have no chin. Their chin was turned backwards giving them that appearance. Moreover, they had a large front tooth, and small back teeth. They also had something called taurodont molars, meaning that they had fused molar roots. All the features that were studied can be compared to the features of the modern humans and can provide a lot of insight on evolution.
Paleoanthropologists studied bones of Neanderthals to predict their lifestyle. For instance, having strong and thick muscles could mean that they had rough and fit life. They are described as “short and stocky”. This is in comparison to modern human, though there are very similar to them in terms of physical features. There is evidence of different brains between the two groups. One important discovery helped paleoanthropologists understand Neanderthals and modern humans. The child skeleton found at Devil Tower in Gibraltar provided a lot of information about the brain and brain function of Neanderthals and the modern humans. It was found that Neanderthal’s brain developed at a faster rate. The child was 3 years old, which would be equivalent to 4 to 5 years old in modern humans. So, the children grew very early which posed a challenge in terms of learning new things in a short span of time. This finding shows that Neanderthals were quite advanced and comparing them to modern humans can help answer a lot of questions about human anatomy.
We learned earlier that early humans were adapted to their environment very well. Similarly, Neanderthals were adapted during the ice age. They were adapted to the cold climate. The evidence of this is the presence of short tibia. In modern human groups like Eskimos, we see short tibia and long femur. While people who live in warmer climates have very long legs. This means that short tibia is an adaptation for cold climates. Not only this, large faces, short chins, and huge nose are also found in dry and cold climates. Moreover, large brains have been linked heat production. According to Bergman’s rule, organisms with large brains produce a lot of heat. So, this is also an adaptation for cold climate. When comparing this to modern humans, we see Inuit groups who are well equipped to very cold climates. Early humans and Neanderthals were both adapted to their climate. People living in different climates have different adaptations. This forms a basis for understanding human diversity.
I really enjoyed reading your post, I found it to be very informative and interesting. My favorite thing you talked about was the adaptations of the Neanderthals to a cold climate especially in comparison to modern humans who live in very cold climates. Understanding why adaptations in modern humans exist can help us better understand certain unique traits present in the fossil record of our past ancestors. As you mentioned, looking at the tibia and femurs of Eskimo people we can see how their adaptations help them in their climate and then infer that the Neanderthals made use of the same adaptations in the same, or at least highly similar, way. You did a really great job of making this apparent through some very nice and clear examples. Thank you for sharing this, I appreciate the approach you took in this post.
Hi Shrishti!
This week, I also focused on Neanderthals due to the fact that I found it very interesting that we are very similar but very different in many ways. Specifically, I enjoyed how you highlighted a lot of their specific qualities like larger brains than modern humans and the presence of the occipital bun. Similar to what you highlighted, I also highlighted the occipital bun and the presence of the taurodont molars. I found both of these interesting since they were defining factors of Neanderthals and definitely are not something that modern humans obtain. I like how you specifically said that the teeth and taurodont molars can provide a lot of insight to evolution. Specifically, because we see that by the structure of teeth changing, that the lifestyles from Neanderthals to modern humans have greatly changed.
Hello,
Nice job putting a lot of the information together. I think you managed to organize the info as well as give a decent description of what each discovery/trait is, and what exactly its significance is to us as humans. You broke down the discoveries and mentioned some traits that I also found to be quite prominent and interesting. I’m unsure whether or not you just picked some random ones, or if you found them interesting as well. However, either way, like I said before your blog post was organized and efficient and I think that’s all we can really ask of you. Next time, I’d curious to see what your own analysis is, alongside the information you’re going to present. Nicely done.
Hello, Shrishti! I also focused on Neanderthals for this week’s blog post. The species really stuck out to me because of how much information scientists were able to gain from them. You discuss their physical traits in your blog and dove deeper into how paleoanthropologists were able to create a hypothetical lifestyle for them. For example, you analyzed how their short and stocky build which leads to the assumption that they had an active lifestyle that demanded strength and endurance. Also, we both pointed out the similarities we share with Neanderthals. This species is closely related to how humans look today, which can help explain why our features survived natural selection. Even disregarding our same physical traits, our bodies developed the same functionality in terms of adaptation to environments.
I loved reading blog posts this week that talked about Neanderthals because I chose to talk Homo Floresiensis. When I first hear the word “Neanderthal” i think of a person that is more uneducated almost “caveman”like from what the media and people use it towards. This post was very informative and provided the necessary information on how scientists using Neanderthals fossils help human evolution. I think its very intresting that Neanderthals has larger brains than the modern human. I think its very cool how scientists used their bones to predict their life style. It is so intresting to know how the child fossil in Giblator and how much information that provided us. Good job with this weeks post!
I enjoyed reading your analysis of Neanderthals, and I like how you connected a lot of the Neanderthal’s traits to what it means to their behavior. I think this is a very important thing to do as a scientist as it allows other people to get a better understanding of the creature being studied. You concluding paragraph is very good, and it wraps up your piece very well. Explaining that evolution occurs in the Neanderthals which indicates evolution in modern humans is a very important point. Hopefully more people will come to understand this so that evolution is viewed in a positive light by everyone. Including Bergman’s rule was also a nice touch, as it does certainly apply and shows how useful that rule really is.
Hi,
I enjoyed your post this week when talking about how paleoanthropologists studied bones of Neanderthals to predict their lifestyle. I too found it interesting that these Neanderthals could survive under the harsh conditions they described their situation in. I do disagree with your point in the sense that you said they were described as “short and stocky”. I thought that the Neanderthals were very close to the modern human size around 5’-5’6”. Which to me isn’t too short when considering the history of these develop and evolving people. But I did like your position going over Bergman’s rule in that their brains were larger similar to the Eskimos. I found it interesting in how the Neanderthals and the Eskimos were proven to have larger brains than the current modern day human.