Our Closest Relatives, the Neanderthals

By: Stephen Thai

Introduction Homo Neanderthalensis Lived in Europe and Southwestern Asia 138,000 to 28,000 years ago

Mostly an Ice Age Never numbered more than 100,000 1856, Neander Valley, Germany

1st Neanderthal skulls discovered

Neanderthals and Humans

Common Ancestor Homo Antecessor 465,000 – 600,000 years

ago 378 unit mtDNA strand

Humans did not evolve from Neanderthals

No evidence of interbreeding (yet)

Out of Africa Theory 1 million years ago

Homo antecessor migrates

out, evolves into Neanderthals

Remaining homo antecessor in Africa evolve into Homo sapiens

100,000 years ago Humans migrate out, replacing

other hominids

Neanderthal Bodies Relative to Humans

5 ft, 185 lbs Larger noses, heads, bones,

muscles Bulkier, stronger than humans Efficient and well suited to cold

environments Less agile

Short limbs, wide pelvises

Language

Hyoid BoneAllows humans to produce wide range of

sounds necessary for language FOXP2

“Language gene”Responsible for humans’ cognitive ability to

understand complex language Both present in Neanderthals Did they speak a language?

Brains Approximately 20% larger than human brains

But proportionally, Neanderthal brains were smaller Back of the brain

Deals with sight and touch Well developed

Front of brain Deals with speech and thought Relatively small compared with back

Left side of brain larger than right Right handed

Shorter childhood Less time to develop cognitive abilities

Brain Sizes

Culture Social Unit

Consisted of extended family members Took care of the sick and injured Mostly lived inside caves

Like humans… Knew how to use fire Constructed complex

temporary structures for shelter when migrating

Skinned animals Lacked art

Burials 1st known hominids to bury dead Was it a ritual or simply to avoid attracting

scavengers? Sites contain multiple individuals Usually inside caves/ rock shelters Some filled with items and pollen

Intentional or no? Occasional cannibalism

Interaction with Humans

Usually avoided each other when possible Increasing numbers of humans in

Neanderthal habitats made avoidance harder

Culture Changes Adoption of bone and ivory tools Puncturing holes into animal bones

for decoration Early form of art for Neanderthals

Hunting

Mostly hunted, occasionally foraged Well suited to walking, running, hunting

Thickness and high density of leg bones Killed using stone point spears and

axes Rarely used ivory or bone until human

interaction Women and sometimes even children

hunted Both men and women sustained numerous

injuries from hunts – broken limbs Few lived older than 30 years

Extinction Theories Climate Change

Sudden swings between warm and cold rapidly changed environment

Killed off many species that Neanderthals depended on for food

Not intelligent enough to develop technology for surviving cold, esp. compared to humans

Extinction coincided w/ coldest period of Ice Age

Natural selection would favor humans

Fails to explain extinction in Middle East/ SW Asia

Extinction cont.

Competition with HumansHomo sapiens more technologically advanced

Better tools for hunting and survivalDivision of labor

Human women did not hunt – gatherers Neanderthal women hunted – higher rates of death Result: reduced birth rates and survival rates of

young children for Neanderthals More humans competing with less Neanderthals

Sequence the Neanderthal genome DNA extracted from femur bone of

38,000 year old male fossil, Croatia Helped in discovery of FOXP2

gene

Neanderthal Genome Project

DNA similarities Human and Chimpanzee: 98.77% Human and Neanderthal: 99.5% Possible interbreeding?

Summary Common ancestor Homo antecessor

465,000 – 600,0000 years ago 1st migration out of Africa – evolved into Neanderthals 2nd Migration – evolved into humans

Neanderthals bigger, stronger, bulkier May have spoken a language

Had hyoid bone and FOXP2 gene Proportionally smaller brains Culture

Social units essential to survival First known hominid burials Both men and women hunted

Extinction Theories Climate Change Competition with humans

Neanderthal Genome Project

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