To Map Neanderthal DNA

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Smithsonian.com

excerpt from article:

Paabo decided to look for DNA in the original Neanderthal bones. Needless to say, the curators at the Rhineland Museum in Bonn, who are responsible for the fossilized bones, were not eager to let him take samples. Analyzing the bones would mean grinding up irreplaceable fossil material and dissolving it in chemicals. But Paabo persisted, and the curators finally agreed. A bone specialist sawed a half-inch chunk from the upper right arm bone of a 42,000-year-old Neanderthal fossil.

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Did he get any DNA from it Edgar? I hear somewhere that they did.

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They did.

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The work these people are doing was at least a partial inspiration for Jurassic Park.

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In a nutshell

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He focused on DNA from the mitochondria, which is much shorter and more plentiful than the DNA that dictates the workings of the rest of the body. Soon Krings began to find DNA sequences that were clearly different from those of any human beings living today.

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The results, along with those of subsequent studies, indicated that Neanderthals contributed little, if any, DNA to modern humans. Instead, they appear to have been displaced by modern humans

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The ultimate goal of his research, Paabo says, is to identify the genetic changes that made us human. Of course, no historical event can ever be reconstructed completely. But by studying our DNA, scientists eventually will be able to say which genes changed, when they changed, and maybe even why they changed.

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Thanks, stuh. I guess I ought to have done that, but I had hoped people would want to read the entire article.

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If Neanderthal was displaced by modern humans (or our ancestors, anyway) I guess my question would be why? I mean, what made us more evolutionarily desirable than them? Were we smarter or faster or more prolific breeders?

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Read the whole article Blacksmithin' they are trying to explain that. Language may have been part of the reason.

I think there was a recent article looking at the last territory know to be inhabited by Neanderthals. I think it was in Southern Italy and that they survived as group longer than first thought.

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Here's an interesting article on their last know whereabouts, complete with pictures:

Neanderthal Last Stand

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BBB
Does anyone know if the earth went through a magnetic field change of direction about the time they were disappearing?

BBB

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thanks for the link, edgar

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Neandethals were actually more well built and had larger brains than modern humans.

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That was a good article, green witch.

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Re: BBB

BumbleBeeBoogie wrote:

Does anyone know if the earth went through a magnetic field change of direction about the time they were disappearing?

BBB

Why do you ask?

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Re: BBB

stuh505 wrote:

BumbleBeeBoogie wrote:
Does anyone know if the earth went through a magnetic field change of direction about the time they were disappearing?
BBB

"Why do you ask?"

If such a reversal occurred, some areas of the earth would be more damaged by radiation than others. The cancer rate would greatly increase in humans and animals. ---BBBImpact on animals:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/

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Could we be heading for a demagnetized doomsday that will leave us defenseless against the lethal effects of solar wind and cosmic rays?

Well, we wouldn't be defenseless...we'd still have the atmosphere. But this brings up a good question -- what percent of our shielding comes the atmosphere and what percent comes from the magnetosphere? I believe that the atmosphere is capable of shielding us 100% from the cosmic rays. However, without the magnetosphere to deflect a significant percentage, there would be more cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere and this would increase the temperature and cause global warming.

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Such a reversal of polarity seems to happen every 250,000 years on average, making us long overdue for another swap between the north and south magnetic poles.

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human civilization has never had to cope with such a situation before, it could be an interesting and challenging time.

I don't think it's going to be such a doomsday. The last reversal was 740,000 years ago. This would be the time of homo erectus (wow, he's gay). Life didn't stop then. If shielding from cosmic rays had failed, every organism on earth with DNA that wasn't subterranean or aquatic would be dead.

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To Map Neanderthal DNA

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