Neanderthals

We have been looking for the end of Neanderthals in weapons and climate for decades. A study proposes to look for it in the placenta

by

For decades, we have tried to explain why our species has persisted over time and Neanderthals don’t. We have blamed climate changeto competition for resources, to a supposed cognitive inferiority and even to the genetic assimilation. However, a new study suggests that the answer might not lie on the battlefield or in the weather, but in something much more intimate like the placenta. A new idea. In this case, science proposes a hypothesis controversial, since it suggests that Neanderthals could have become extinct, in part, due to genetic susceptibility extreme to preeclampsia. a disorder which is heard a lot today and which is nothing more than a hypertensive condition in pregnancy that can be lethal for both the mother and the fetuses. A price to pay. To understand the hypothesis, we must first understand the human “obstetric paradox”, since in our species we have an almost unique characteristic, which is deep hemochorial placentation. And it is something that may sound very bad, but it is actually necessary to feed a fetal brain as demanding as ours and that of Neanderthals. In this case, the placenta needs to aggressively invade the arteries of the uterus maternal to obtain maximum blood flow, although the problem is that it is something that carries a great risk. The possibilities. Faced with this invasion, the possibilities that open up are several. The first of them is that it works and that the fetus can develop its massive brain. But in the event that this fails, a great immunological and vascular reaction is unleashed in the mother, which is what we know as preeclampsia. This presents with severe hypertension, organ damage and risk of death for both the mother and the fetus. And it is a problem that today is quite significant among human pregnancies, but now science indicates that, although the Homo sapiens evolved a physiological “safety mechanism” to mitigate this impact, Neanderthals were not so lucky. A demographic winter. This study suggests that, as the Neanderthal brain grew, becoming larger than ours, its metabolic needs forced a increasingly aggressive placentation. The fact of penetrating further into the placenta significantly increases the risk of preeclampsia, and the problem is that Neanderthal women lacked the immune mechanism to tolerate this invasion. This is where researchers have created a scenario in which rates of preeclampsia and eclampsia in Neanderthals could have reached between 10% and 20% of all pregnanciescompared to much lower rates in preindustrial humans. The meaning. This scenario translates into logically devastating maternal and fetal mortality, and the direct consequence is that small and dispersed hunter-gatherer populations had a constant decline in reproductive success. And this is a much more effective death sentence than any war, since a sudden catastrophe is not necessary, but it is enough for more mothers and babies to die than are born over a few millennia for a species to end up disappearing. There is skepticism. Within the scientific world there are doubts about what is said in this study, since there is a lack of physical evidence to support this hypothesis. The first thing they point to is that there are no markers in the fossils that have been found that allow us to diagnose preeclampsia in a Neanderthal woman from 40,000 years ago. In addition to this, although we know genetic variants associated with the risk of preeclampsia in modern humans, such as genes linked to FLT1systematic screening of Neanderthal DNA has not yet been performed to confirm whether they possessed the “high-risk” variants or lacked the protective variants. Also like it. What makes this hypothesis attractive to biologists is that it fits with maternal-fetal conflict theory. As different previous reviews point out, pregnancy is not always a perfect cooperation, but rather a tense biological negotiation. In this case, the fetus “wants” more resources to survive, and the mother “wants” to limit that investment to survive and have future children. Preeclampsia is often the result of this conflict getting out of control, and so, if Neanderthals took the “big brain” strategy to the limit without developing the biological counterpart to protect the mother, their own reproductive biology could have become an evolutionary trap. Images | Nanne Tiggelman freestocks In Xataka | A mixture of 4,000 kilometers: we have the first detailed map of the coexistence between Neanderthals and Sapiens

Do you sneeze when eating dark chocolate? It’s not an allergy, it’s a “bug” in your DNA inherited from Neanderthals

by

Buy a bar of chocolate with 90% cocoa to get home and put the first piece in your mouth to have that bitter and pleasant hit that many seek. But what you find is a series of sneezes as if it were an allergy. If you have identified with this microstory, you are not allergic to cocoa, but you are part of a curious minority victim of a neurological “short circuit” that science has studied and that could directly connect with Neanderthals. A crossing of cables. Sometimes the body gives us many surprises, such as sneezing when we get a bit of sun after leaving the house. But if we focus on chocolate, the reality is that We are not talking about an immune response with histamine involved. The explanation most accepted by the scientific community lies in the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve is one of the most important nerves we have and is responsible for transmitting sensitive information from the face to the brain. In the event that we eat dark chocolate, especially with a purity greater than 70%, compounds such as theobromine and caffeine intensely stimulate taste receptors. The theory. What is being proposed right now is that in certain people this signal is so powerful that the trigeminal nerve becomes “confused.” In this way, when passing close to the optic nerve and the respiratory tract, the brain interprets this explosion of bitter and intense taste as a nasal irritant or a powerful visual signal, triggering the sneeze to “expel” the supposed threat. The solar connection. As we have mentioned previously, there is a well-documented phenomenon in which 25-30% of the population sneezes when looking at bright light like that of the Sun. This is what is known as a photic sneeze reflex and science has strong support for stating that it is due to hyperexcitability in the visual cortex. Well, chocolate sneezing seems to be a variant or “first cousin” of this photic reflex. In fact, it is quite likely that if a person sneezes on chocolate, they will also do so when leaving the house on a sunny day. Both are failures in the filtering of signals in the trigeminal nerve. Neanderthal heritage. As explained by biologist Gerry Ward in an archived blog postthis trait is not a random error that exists in the population, but is a direct inheritance in our genetic material, and goes one step further by pointing out that it may come directly from Neanderthals. The hypothesis on the table is that, in prehistoric times, this reflex acted as a defense mechanism to clean the respiratory tract against unknown tastes or smells that could be dangerous. In this way, what today is a great nuisance when eating a simple dessert, 40,000 years ago could have been a great evolutionary advantage that marked the survival of certain individuals. It’s more complex. Although dissemination almost always falls into great simplicity, genetic data is complex. In this case, Ward’s theory placed the responsible gene in the chromosome 11but later data from 23andMe, the famous genetic analysis company, identified specific markers associated with this phenomenon on chromosome 12. But this later changed, since studies on the photic reflex pointed to variations in the chromosomes 2 and 3. This suggests that the trait is polygenic since there is not a single “switch” for sneezing, but rather several genetic components that increase the probability of suffering from it. How many suffer from it. Although a priori you may hear that this is a ‘problem’ that is present in 30% of the population, the reality is that this figure corresponds to the photic reflex related to sunlight. The sneeze caused specifically by dark chocolate is much more unique, since, according to data collected by 23andMe among its users, only about 1% of the population reports systematically sneezing after consuming dark chocolate. In this way, we are facing a select club within the largest group of those who sneeze for light. Images | Tetiana Bykovets Towfiqu barbhuiya In Xataka | Something strange is happening with the chocolate crisis in Spain: households consume less, but business improves

Every time you think you’re eating poorly lately, think about these Neanderthals who ate their neighbors.

by

Approximately 40,000 years ago, a group of Neanderthals captured girls and women, took them to the vicinity of the Goyet caves (in present-day Belgium) and ate them. And no, it’s not a figure of speech. What is a girl like you doing in a place like this? Although the third Goyet cavern has been studied since the 19th century, it was not until a few years ago that tomographic techniques, ancient DNA analysis and isotonic measurements have allowed us to fully understand what was happening in the heart of the mountain. And we have seen the best example a few days ago in Scientific Reports, Quentin Cosnefroy and a large team of European researchers have managed to identify a minimum of six individuals among the mass of bones to be studied. At least four were adult or teenage women of short stature and surprisingly fragile bones. And that in itself was quite curious: why was the proportion of women so high? But it wasn’t the most curious thing: the most curious thing is that they had been eaten. Hunger. According to the analysis, virtually all of the bones show cut marks, fracturing for marrow extraction, and other signs of processing for human consumption. But the most striking thing is the selection: it is not a random group, but a very specific demographic sample. I have already said the key: the bones were too graceful to be Neanderthal bones (who, remember, populated the caves at that time). The isotopic studies showed that none of these individuals came from the vicinity of Goyet: that is, they were women from other groups who (as I said) were captured and taken to the cave to be consumed with tools. They were a banquet. And no, I’m not going overboard with sensationalism. The same study acknowledges that the statistical probability of finding such a gender and age composition is ridiculous. “The exclusive presence of women and children in the Goyet complex does not respond to chance or a sample of natural mortality. It is a deliberate selection,” said Christian Pérez. And he was right. The only reasonable explanation is exocannibalism; something that had only been identified in modern ethnographic contexts as a form of violence towards groups (in the context of tribal wars). As the authors pointed out, this interpretative key is what can help us understand what was happening. The last living Neanderthal. Little by little, the question of what happened to the Neanderthal universe becomes more accessible to us. In fact, “the appearance of extreme behaviors such as selective cannibalism could be interpreted as an expression of growing tensions” and that clears up many doubts about what could (and could not) happen. As much as the theories on assimilation gain strengththe truth is that this admiration was not a bed of roses. Image | Matt Benson In Xataka | The story behind the “terror farm” of Burgos: cannibalism, rats, corpses… and animal welfare seal

The extinction of Neanderthals has always been a mystery. Science now believes that they are still with us

by

For decades, the disappearance of Neanderthals has been one of the biggest mysteries of human evolution. It happened about 40,000 years ago, suspiciously coincident with our species Homo sapiens to Eurasia… But now we are thinking that they did not become extinct. What was thought. Classical theories paint a replacement scenario: either we wiped them out in direct competition, or they couldn’t withstand brutal climate change. But now a study published in Scientific Reports offers a much more fascinating answer: we absorb them among ourselves. And the key to all this is genetic dilution. The hypotheses. To go deeper, the competition hypothesis suggests that Homo sapiens We were simply superior: we had better hunting strategies, a broader diet or more advanced social structures that allowed us to monopolize all the resources, driving the Neanderthals to extinction. On the other hand, the environmental hypothesis blames the drastic climate changes that occurred just at that time. According to this idea, Neanderthals could not adapt to extreme fluctuations and their populations fragmented until they disappeared permanently. However, the new study presents a mathematical model that leaves both factors aside and focuses on the most basic of all: demographics and sex. The new model. The authors of the study propose an analytical model that demonstrates how Neanderthals could disappear without the need for the Homo sapiens had any selective advantage over them. The model does not require “catastrophic events” or cognitive superiority. Instead, it relies on a concept called “species-neutral drift” and a key factor: small, recurring immigrations of Homo sapiens in Neanderthal territories. There were many more of us. One of the first ideas pointed out in this case is that the population Homo sapiens that left Africa was much larger in number than the Neanderthal, acting as a “practically infinite demographic reservoir.” By going together, because friction makes affection, and between the species they began to intersect and had very fertile offspring. The model assumes that this was not a one-time event, but rather a “sustained gene flow” that occurred every time a small group of modern humans arrived in an area. So, adding that the Neanderthal population was much smaller and there was a constant influx of genes from Homo sapiensthe result is the dissolution of the gene pool. It’s literally like pouring a glass of Neanderthal water into an ocean of Homo sapiens. In the end his presence is completely diluted. The time. The most powerful thing about the study is that its calculations fit with the archaeological record. The mathematical model shows that this process of “almost complete genetic replacement” could have occurred within a period of 10,000 to 30,000 years, something that aligns with the long period of coexistence that both species had in Eurasia. Were they extinct? This is the question we ask ourselves. Know if the word ‘extinction’ is appropriate for this paradigm. This model offers what scientists call a “parsimonious explanation” (the simplest). In words we understand, it does not deny that other factors, such as competition or weather, could have contributed. But it shows that this genetic dissolution alone is something that may have explained the disappearance of the Neanderthals. That is why, rather than an extinction, we speak of a fusion by absorption. This perfectly explains why the Neanderthals disappeared as a genetically distinct group, but their legacy endures: modern humans of Eurasian ancestry conserve in our DNA a small percentage of their genetic heritage (although very diluted). Images | mostafa meraji In Xataka | Human evolution has not stopped: in fact, there are reasons to think that it is more accelerated than ever

125,000 years ago the Neanderthals ate bones to survive. Today we discovered that they were right

by

In the police comedy Brooklyn 99during a party the detective Charles Boyle meets the gastronomic writer Vivian Ludley, with whom he talks about the last meal on earth. The policeman, in a clamor for his love of French food, chooses El Hortelano: a tiny French bird that eats a single bite, with skin, viscera and bones. “A challenge to God”, They call it. Vivian replies that the practice is illegal, But he confesses that he had academic permission to try one: “The peak was very crispy,” he recalls with fascination. The scene may seem eccentric, but opens a question that is not less: what is in the bones that makes them so valuable – at the same time so controversial – in the history of food? Western oblivion. For centuries, the bones were a natural part of the human diet. The neardentals They came to ride “Fats of fat” in places like Neumark-Nord (Germany), where 125,000 years ago they broke bones of deer, horses and cattle to extract marrow and heat fragments with water until obtainable lipids. It was not a whim: it was survival, a way to avoid the so -called starvation of the rabbit, caused by eating too much lean protein without sufficient fat. Later, many cultures continued with practice. In sub -Saharan Africa, for example, rural communities even chew long bones as part of the daily diet. In Asia it is common to eat flags and fins of fried fish until they are crispy. And in Europe, popular cuisine always turned to the thorns of canned sardines and anchovies, softened by sterilization. However, speaking today of what bones are as such, this practice of consuming them disappeared. Most meat reaches the clean, boneless plate, ready to avoid discomforts. The bone has been relegated to the secondary paper of the broth. As Chef Jennifer McLAGAN explains: “We no longer see bones as useful. People consider them a discomfort, something to get rid of.” But that perception begins to crack through The search for “superfood”and the bones are on the table again. What is inside the bones? The short response would be essential nutrients. But I will not be so simplistic, the bones are mainly formed by calcium and phosphorusin addition to containing iron, magnesium and potassium. In protein terms, up to a 25 and 33% of the content of an animal It corresponds to collagen, a key structural protein for bones, skin and joints. In my case, I discovered it by accident. After an injury doing crossfitthe traumatologist told me about the importance of collagen To recover fabrics. Beyond prescribing supplements – which also opened the door to the veal bone broths, rich in natural collagen. It was my first conscious contact with this part of the animal we usually throw without thinking. Science behind. In a National Geographic report describe how bones They are one of the denser tissues in nutrients: they provide collagen, fat marrow and minerals. But science clarifies. An article, Posted in Frontiers in Nutritionpoints out that the benefits are modest: some trials show minor improvements in skin and joints, although with methodological limitations. A meta -analysis in Orthopec Reviews It points positive effects on bone and articulating health, but insists on the need for broader and standardized studies. In addition, we are not designed to bite hard bones: they can splinter, damage teeth or pierce the digestive tract. And large animals bones tend to accumulate heavy metals such as lead or cadmium, which advise against consuming them in excess or un controlled dust, According to Healthline. The heat and pressure of the long broths allow to extract collagen and minerals safely, and some studies They suggest a certain benefit when ingesting collagen peptides. However, the reviews of the studies consulted coincide: Quality trials are missing, with standardized protocols and clear clinical markers. A new trend? The interest in bones does not happen in a vacuum. A couple of months ago, the “Carnivorous Diet” for Babies: families that offer ribs or cord to their children as part of the Baby-Led Weaning. Health and expert authorities They coincide in which to introduce meat from six months is recommended by its iron and zinc. But they warn that a strictly carnivorous diet in babies lacks fiber and vitamin C, essential nutrients for development. At the same time, startups in Europe and Asia experiment with powdered bone -based products: breads, sausages, patches or nuggets that incorporate calcium and collagen without bothering the consumer. According to National Geographicthe initial results are positive: when the bone appears as an invisible ingredient, acceptance is high. Collagen is more present. Korean cosmetics and social networks They have converted To the collagen in a global phenomenon, associated not only to joint or bone health, but above all to beauty and anti -aging. From facial creams to soluble coffee powders, the promise is to erase wrinkles, combat sagging and rejuvenate the skin. However, skeptical voices such as that of the surgeon Afshin mosahebi Remember that scientific evidence It is limited and that, by ingesting it, the collagen does not reach the dermis: it decomposes in amino acids like any other protein. The bone broth is a nutritious and comforting classic, but Not a guaranteed age. The real secret to aging well is still in basic habits: do not smoke, protect from the sun, maintain a balanced diet and sleep enough. An unexpected return. Of the “fat factories” Neanderthals to Korean cosmetics, bones have accompanied humanity in multiple forms. Today they return to the scene between broths and collagen powders. The difference is that, this time, they do not arrive as a resource of survival, but as a market as a product: what was previously thrown, is now sold as a trend. Image | Freepik Xataka | Boomers trust pills and supplement, generation Z in “functional snacks”: two ways to look for the same

The Neanderthals invented it 125,000 years ago with their “fat factory”

by

Although demonized for a long time, fat is one of the essential macronutrients for the correct functioning of our body. More recent studies and habits are putting the fats in their place placing some like Allied in healthy dietsbut thousands of years ago, who already knew the role of fat in the body were the Neanderthals. To the point that just discover A giant “Factory” of fat in Germany. Short. Neumark-nord It is an archaeological site that is southwest of Berlin and a few kilometers from Leipzig. It is a place not alien to researchers, since a study in the area a few years ago revealed How the Neanderthals already did what we are doing so well: deeply modify the landscape in which they live. Without leaving the customs of those Neanderthals who inhabited the area 125,000 years ago, we have new details about their customs. Posted in the magazine Science Advancesa new study shows how Our ancestors They had an “industry” around the processing of the bones of large mammals with a single objective: extract bone fat to consume it little by little. Fat factories. A study of more than 2,000 bone fragments and dozens of flint tools It has allowed researchers to observe in many of them signs of having used to crush, have been crushed and have an exposure to intense heat. In some specific areas there was a concentration of bones rich in marrow, as well as anvils and folk that would have been the Tools used by Neanderthals. This concentration reinforces the idea that the site was used as a kind of “factory” to extract fat in a rather laborious way. According to the researchers, to get that bone fat, they broke the bones of 172 mammals such as deer, horses or cattle. Once they reached the marrow, the small fragments in water crushed and warmed it to extract the fat. It was a planned, long and, the researchers affirm in Livescienceorganized to maximize the extraction of nutrients from animal remains. Bones damaged by a hammer Fighting “rabbit starvation”. Why complicate life so much to get fat? The reason is simple and we must return to the diet. Follow one balanced diet To be healthy it means that we must eat a certain amount of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. When one of the tables of the table decomposes, health problems appear. That they put so much effort to get fat in this way may mean that there were times (perhaps the coldest) in which Carbohydrates scarce and could not feed exclusively with proteins. A decompensation thus (which we now do with Diets like Keto) It is dangerous, above all, if it is accompanied by an intense rhythm of life in which energy is needed. Consuming too much protein without sufficient fat can cause something called “starring rabbit”, A potentially deadly condition that is caused by excessive consumption of lean meat without enough fat. And it is not that the rabbit is the animal that suffers it. It was baptized like this because Arctic Explorers They fed almost exclusively with similar rabbits and animals and fell seriously ill because our body cannot metabolize large amounts of proteins without sufficient fat. They only improved when they could hunt animals with more fat. Ahead of the clock. Our body may burn carbohydrates or fat to obtain energy, since Protein is not a good “fuel”and if the carbos were scarce, the Neanderthals turned to fat. Where from? Of what they had closer: the bones of the animals that had hunted to feed. That they realized this implies that perhaps we should stop seeing them as those little sophisticated “hunters” that we can imagine sometimes. It also indicates that They were organized and quite ingenious. And, more important than this consideration, that large fat factory in Germany advances the resource intensification industry clock in almost 100,000 years. Before this analysis, the oldest evidence of a similar industry Databa 28,000 years ago. Images | Athree23 In Xataka | The Neanderthals left a deep genetic footprint in us. The last example: the sense of pain

We have new clues about the coexistence of Sapiens and Neanderthals. We have found them in Burgos

by

The transit of a Europe dominated by Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis) to a world in which our species, H. sapiensit was already the only human species is one of the most intriguing periods in our evolutionary history. We do not know how Neanderthals disappeared nor do we have many details about how they coexisted with our species. It is not necessary to go very far to find clues about how this coexistence was. Arlanzian culture. An international team, in which researchers from the universities of Valladolid, Burgos or Alcalá have participated, I discovered recently the clues of a prehistoric culture that had passed so far unnoticed. A culture they have called Arlanziense. This prehistoric culture has been baptized Ashí in reference to the Arlanza River, in whose Valley is Cueva Millán (located in the municipality of Hortigüela, Burgos). It is in this cave where the site that the Arlanzian culture has gone to the discovery can be found. The period associated with this prehistoric cultural tradition, explains the team responsible for the study, is associated with the transition between the Middle Paleolithic and the Superior, occurred between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago. This period is marked precisely by another very different transition, which saw the Neanderthals of the European continent disappear and the passage to the era of modern humans. Jump in time. Until now the clues we had placed this change in a much more recent period. Until now, the first cultures of the Upper Paleolithic (Auriñaciense and Châtelperroniense) dated a period between 43,000 and 40,000 years ago. The disappearance of the Musteriense culture, which we consider typical of the Middle Paleolithic, would have occurred between 45,000 and 37,000 years ago. However, the findings in the Cueva Millán force us to delay even more this transitional period between the Middle and Higher Paleolithic, after finding evidence of a culture with features of the Paleolithic medium before the Auriñaciense and Châtelperroniense: the findings would place it between 43,000 and 40,000 years ago. Unique combination The team responsible for the study explains that the artifacts found in the Cueva Millán site and the techniques associated with its production allow to “define” this new culture. A clulture, the Arlanziense, whose features highlight the “standardized production of small stone projectiles for hunting.” The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Scientific Reports. Doubts to be resolved. The transition from the Middle Paleolithic to the superior is traditionally marked by the arrival of the H. sapiens But the responsible team indicates that the story can be somewhat more complex. As indicated, the site cannot be associated with one or another species, which opens the door to the possibility that the Neanderthals had adopted techniques and objects of the sapiens. Although we do not have concrete evidence, this would be a plausible hypothesis in that case. Transition between species. The Millán Cueva Site and its Arlanzian culture could help us understand not only the transition but also the coexistence of humans and Neanderthals in the Iberian Peninsula. We know that coexistence between both species globally left A genetic imprint that still lasts in ours, and we have found vestiges of this hybridization in other places of the Peninsula. In Xataka | If the question is “when the Neanderthals and the Sapiens were crossed,” we now have the answer: about 47,000 years ago Image | University of Valladolid

We had many doubts about the relationship that Neanderthals and Sapiens had. The remains of a child are solving them

by

Today is a fact recognized by the scientific community, which sapiens(Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals (H. Neanderthalensis) They lived in some contexts. Fruit of that coexistence, the procreation between both human species and, the result of that procreation, a Neandertal genetic legacy that still lasts, to a greater or less measure, in our genes. Fruit also of that hybridization were the remains of the one we know today as the Lapedo child. New dating. Now, a new study He has managed to stop These bone remains found almost 30 years ago in the Lapedo Valley, in the center-west of Portugal. According to this new dating, the child to whom these bones belonged would have lived about 28,000 years ago, millennia after the extinction of their Neanderthal ancestors. A key finding. The remains of the Lapedo child was found by chance in 1998 in the homonymous valley, near the Portuguese city of Leiria. At the time, the infant bone remains assumed an important test in favor of the hybridization hypothesis between Neanderthals and Sapiens. The bones showed their own features. Of the Neanderthals would have inherited attributes such as complexion. At the time when some experts DNA began to study Of the bone remains left behind by the Neanderthals, these remains showed us otherwise the results of the hybridization between our species and its evolutionary “cousins”. Studies that would also help confirm this hybridization. New information 27 years later. The new study estimates that the Lapedo child would have lived between 27,780 and 28,550 years ago. The dating had been elusive so far since the remains were surrounded by organic matter belonging to different periods. The team managed to save this obstacle focusing on an amino acid present in the collagen of human bones. “Being able to successfully date the child, we feel like a small piece of their history, which is a great privilege,” explained to Phys.org Bethan Linscott, co -author of the study. The details of the study have been published In an article In the magazine Science Advances. Rites … The child’s bones are only part of the history of the society in which he was born. And, as Linscott explains, these remains were found in a grave, they had not been left behind but had received some kind of funeral rite. The bone remains were found along with animal bones. Next to the child were discovered remains belonging to a deer, and about the child, remains belonging to a rabbit. A piece of coal that seemed to be part of a funeral rite was also discovered. The study of the different elements showed a somewhat different story. While rabbit’s remains were contemporary of the infant’s remains, both the deer bones and the piece of bastard would be prior to the era in which this lived. … and superstitions? Another important detail that reveals the Lopedo site is that this was abandoned for at least two millennia after the burial of the young man. This allows us to speculate with the reason for this migration and about its possible connection with the tomb found in this environment. In Xataka | 8,000 years ago a group of farmers crossed the Aegean Sea. Its trail can still be seen in the DNA in Media Europe Image | Jakub Hałun

For thousands of years, Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens tried to mate insistently. Genetics had another idea

by

In 1856, while they worked in A limestone quarry Near Düsseldorf, two Italian workers found a basin full of bones. They thought they were the remains of a bear and approached a teacher of a nearby city, known for being a bone collector. They had no idea what they were about to provoke. The antecedent. When he saw the bones, Johann C. Fuhlrott He realized that they were not from a bear, he took the bones to the University of Bonn and, next to Hermann Schaaffhausethey communicated the finding to the world. No one took them very seriously. It was said that it was a Russian cosaco with rickets that persecuted Napoleon for Europe. Until almost a decade later, the Irish geologist William King He reached a revolutionary conclusion: we had not always been alone. But why are we now? With the discovery of Homo Neanderthalensis They opened many unknownsbut there is one that has been chasing us for almost 200 years: why did they disappear? How is it possible that such an old, so robust species, that had survived so many things disappeared without more? Why were we left alone? To all these years, scientists have given numerous hypotheses and theories. From Prehistoric genocides to A slow and agonized eclipse. However, Ludovic Slimak, researcher at the Center for Anthropobiology and Genomic of Touluse and one of the greatest international experts in Neanderthals, You have another idea. The forms of love (and what is not love). For Slimak, if we apply the knowledge of cultural anthropology to what Paleogenetics is telling us, the image is quite different. And, as in all traditional societies in which strong identities coexist, it looks like the different human communities exchanged women. From our perspective, mere expression is already a savage. But from the perspective of anthropology, those “family crossing” processes were basic to ensure stable alliances between different communities. And that, if we take into account that we are loads of DNA Neanderthal, it seems to be what happened. However, As Slimak points outthat “fusion” of lineages never came to occur. The question is why. A story (genetically) impossible. We know that Neanderthals and Sapiens crossed and They had offspring. But we also know that a significant part of it were sterile people unable to reproduce. That is, although the communities tried to lock these relationships and alliances based on miscegenation, the thing did not work. Searching. It’s curious, Slimak said in An interview for Livesciencethat “when you are looking for old DNA (40,000 to 45,000 years ago) all these sapiens early have recent DNA, and That is why we have (DNA Neanderthal) today. But when you arrive and try to extract DNA from the last Neanderthals, contemporaries of these first sapienslet’s say between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago there is not a single Neanderthal with DNA sapiens“ Curious and very possibly one of the keys that explain because the most numerically and genetically diverse population of Sapiens won the departure to the Neanderthals. That is, why we were alone. Image | SUCHOSCH In Xataka | If the question is “when the Neanderthals and the Sapiens were crossed,” we now have the answer: about 47,000 years ago In Xataka | The “ghost species” with which our ancestors were settled and disappeared without (almost) leave a trace *An earlier version of this article was published in February 2024

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.