if they call you a neanderthal

I just have a difficult time believing that Cro-Magnon didn't do the wild thing with Neanderthal.

Does this seem a little, well, odd to anybody else?

A former co-worker of me (and additionally some old friends of my wife) are called Neanthalers: they live there. :wink:


This is the link to the museum in Neanderthal
Neanderthal Museum

Whether they did it or not may be immaterial; if they were gametically incompatible (that is, fertilization was impossible) they could do all the wild thing they wanted without producing offspring.

Not that this means I agree with the conclusions of this study, necessarily; there has been a lot of work demonstrating that the two groups were separate species, but not enough to eliminate any doubt. And since this study focuses on mtDNA, it is conceivable that a "human" sperm was incompatible with a neanderthal egg, but that a "human" egg could be fertilized by a neanderthal sperm. (I don't know of any precedents for this in nature; just trying to come up with as many questions against the premise as I can.)

if they call you a neanderthal
It's unlikely. The difference in physiognomy would I think make each repellent to the other. The differences between the two may in fact be so vast in their mind's eyes that intercourse would be problematical

A quite reasonable explanation, patio, for someone like me whose knowledge of biology is limited.

It also explains a good bit about why those country boys aren't fathering half-bovine, half-human offspring.

Oh wait a minute, that doesn't explain some of those Texas Neoconservative Republicans, on second thought...

bob:

Are you suggesting that evolution of the mind enables, let's call it, 'deviant sexual behavior'?

(This isn't a challenge. I'm genuinely curious, and freely admit to being completely a rube in this area.)

if they call you a neanderthal
I see Letty has the same post under History forum "We ain't kissing cousins?"

I find this thread fascinating and informative.The level of discussion is far above most other web sites that use this forum.I agree with patiodog and bobsmyth that intercousre most likely did occur but without offspring.I don't have much to bring to the biological debate but I do have a question.How does such a successful species fail?And in fact,is our own species foredoomed?

An excellent question, that...

if they call you a neanderthal
I didn't suggest that they could't but wouldn't. I certainly don't think they had all the encumbrances that today's people in the choices they made i.e. religion, social standing, education but they would find each other unappealing therefore undesirable.

As to species, we are the dominant species on earth and our own worst enemies. Wouldn't you think by now as the dominant and brightest species we would have learned not to kill each other. We have had world leaders practice genocide. What's to stop them being all inclusive so that everyone goes.

I'm not morbid so I don't think this will happen. This poor earth has been treated with blatant disregard by its inhabitants. The optimists in society still hope we'll grow up.

Re: if they call you a neanderthal


Or go quietly, without taking everything else with us...

I think it's likewise fascinating that, biological compatibility aside, perhaps Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal thought the other too ugly to fool around with.

There simply must've been some interspecies rape occurring; which lends credence to the theory that an egg couldn't be fertilized.

If they were gametically incompatible, this means that Neanderthalers (the ancient ones, of course, and not some of the BRD citizens) belonged to another biologic species. Maybe, they were not people at all, but some advanced species of tail-less apes?

if they call you a neanderthal
The possibilty of rape exists. We've all seen images of a caveman with a club dragging a woman off to his cave. If the woman was repugnant to him I'm afraid his other club may be less potent.

I'm sure I saw a Neanderthal walking around in a suit in NYC. Heavy forehead, low-slung jaw, long arms, mono-eyebrow....

I agree, PDiddie, that "attractiveness" or lack thereof would not be a complete barrier to any interspecies fooling around. Even if we apply modern cognitive tendencies (which is probably not useful, in terms of how Neanderthals/ Cro-Magnons actually thought), there would be several categories where interspecies mating (ahem) might happen; rape being foremost, then simple slot a/ tab b logistics (do you think anyone finds cows sexually attractive, per se?) to an unattractive and thereby shunned member of "attractive" group being attracted to relatively attractive member of the "unattractive" group.

Etc., etc.

bobsmyth, rape has very, very little to do with attraction.

if they call you a neanderthal
Good point, Sozobe. I remember a query once asked of what the difference was between a dog and a fox. Answer is ten beers.

I certainly wouldn't deny it, since that is exactly what I think we are.