While there are some very interesting-looking people in the world, I have yet to see anyone who looks exactly like a neanderthal. That, after all, would call for someone with a very different skeletal structure.
Only by a minority of biologists.
interesting choice of words.... I once noticed a magazine with a picture of a Neanderthal skeleton in a doctor's office and asked him how close it looked to a human skeleton.... he wasn't able to point at anything in the picture that looked out of place. One of this doctor's specialties was chiropracty. So I would say he knows more about it than I do.
And yes you are so going to have to support your "minority" comment....
interesting choice of words.... I once noticed a magazine with a picture of a Neanderthal skeleton in a doctor's office and asked him how close it looked to a human skeleton.... he wasn't able to point at anything in the picture that looked out of place. One of this doctor's specialties was chiropracty. So I would say he knows more about it than I do.
And yes you are so going to have to support your "minority" comment....
Both fossil and genetic evidence indicate that Neanderthals and modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved from a common ancestor between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals and modern humans belong to the same genus (Homo) and inhabited the same geographic areas in Asia for 30,00050,000 years; genetic evidence indicate while they may have interbred with non-African modern humans, they are separate branches of the human family tree (separate species).
A previous study by one of the authors and recent work by other researchers [Schillachi, M. A. & Froelich, J. W. (2001) Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 115, 157-166] have supported specific status for Neanderthals based on analogy to chimpanzees and Sulawesi macaques, respectively. However, these taxa may not be the most appropriate models for Pleistocene humans. Here we test the hypothesis that Neanderthals represent a subspecies of H. sapiens by comparing the degree of their morphological differentiation from modern humans to that found within and between 12 species of extant primates. The model taxa comprised >1,000 specimens, including phylogenetic (modern humans and African apes) and ecological (eight papionin taxa) models for Pleistocene humans. Morphological distances between model taxon pairs were compared to the distances between Neanderthals and modern humans obtained by using a randomization technique. Results strongly support a specific distinction for Neanderthals.
I was under the impression that the principal test for same/different species was whether or not members could produce fertile offspring. Absent a live Neanderthal, that one is going to be a little difficult to check...
Back on the original topic - and it may have been brought up before, I haven't read the whole thread - one possible explanation is that there are intelligent aliens in the galaxy...and since they're intelligent, they're staying a looooong way away from the hyper-violent death cult on Earth.
I was under the impression that the principal test for same/different species was whether or not members could produce fertile offspring. Absent a live Neanderthal, that one is going to be a little difficult to check...
Back on the original topic - and it may have been brought up before, I haven't read the whole thread - one possible explanation is that there are intelligent aliens in the galaxy...and since they're intelligent, they're staying a looooong way away from the hyper-violent death cult on Earth.
When you read about how many species will produce fertile hybrids in the wild with no help from man.... it makes you wonder if maybe they should have been classified as subspecies in the first place.
For all we know, our nearest neighbors might still be developing side-wheel paddle steamers, and rifled muskets.
Given how old the galaxy is (and how old most non-giant stars in our relative neighborhood are), if they're behind us in technology at all, it's bound to be a lot more than just a couple of centuries. It would be more like the Europeans meeting the American Indians.
Considering the technology explosion caused by factors such as better agriculture, mining, travel, and production after the stream engine compared to the rate of change prior in human history, most species are either statistically going to be way ahead (especially in areas like biosciences where we're not running up against issues like the size of molecules and the speed of electricity that's slowing down advancements in electronics) or primarily a muscle-driven society.
Fate - protects fools, small children, and ships named Enterprise Will Riker
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Comments
And yes you are so going to have to support your "minority" comment....
My character Tsin'xing
I can do better than that.
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-neanderthalensis
My character Tsin'xing
:rolleyes:
Okay...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14745010/
Back on the original topic - and it may have been brought up before, I haven't read the whole thread - one possible explanation is that there are intelligent aliens in the galaxy...and since they're intelligent, they're staying a looooong way away from the hyper-violent death cult on Earth.
here's another one: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/domducks.htm
When you read about how many species will produce fertile hybrids in the wild with no help from man.... it makes you wonder if maybe they should have been classified as subspecies in the first place.
My character Tsin'xing
Given how old the galaxy is (and how old most non-giant stars in our relative neighborhood are), if they're behind us in technology at all, it's bound to be a lot more than just a couple of centuries. It would be more like the Europeans meeting the American Indians.
Member Access Denied Armada!
My forum single-issue of rage: Make the Proton Experimental Weapon go for subsystem targetting!