Neanderthals

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Ancient Pinkie Reveals Your New Relatives

DNA helps decode history of Denisovans

(Newser) - A 30,000-year-old finger is pointing the way to a population of humans experts never knew existed. The pinkie bone, discovered in southern Siberia in what's known as the Desinova Cave, contains DNA that scientists used to sequence the entire genome of the young girl it belonged to, NPR reports....

In Spanish Cave, Neanderthal Bones Tell of Cannibalism

Fragments come from group of 12, possibly related

(Newser) - In the forests of northern Spain is a cave named El Sidrón, and inside lies one of the richest troves of Neanderthal remains known to man. Since explorers first stumbled upon jawbones in 1994, 1,800 Neanderthal bone fragments have been discovered there, some of which contain accessible bits...

Early Man Survived By Growing Up Slowly

It's how we outsmarted the Neanderthals

(Newser) - Immaturity may be the key to the human race’s dominance. Neanderthals have brains roughly the same size as early humans, and their tools were just as good, so scientists have long puzzled over how Homo sapiens became the top primates on the block. Now, some scientists think they have...

Neanderthals: Smarter Than We Thought

They were 'more like our brothers and sisters,' anthropologists say

(Newser) - Turns out the Geico cavemen have a point: Neanderthals have been getting a bad rap. Until recently, scientists assumed that Neanderthals only learned advanced survival skills when they met more modern humans. But scientists have now found evidence that they developed human-like skills—like creating new tools, hunting more elusive...

Humans Mated With Neanderthals

Study of modern humans' genes proves it, say scientists

(Newser) - We all might have a little knuckle-dragger in us: A new study says that our ancestors interbred with Neanderthals. Anthropologists last week announced that they identified leftover Neanderthal genes in the DNA of humans living today. The study, which looked at the genetic data of 2,000 people living around...

Neanderthals Wore Makeup, Jewelry
 Neanderthals Wore 
 Makeup, Jewelry 
KNUCKLE-DRAGGING VANITY
Jan 12, 2010 10:22 AM CST

Neanderthals Wore Makeup, Jewelry

Find suggests they were just as advanced as early humans

(Newser) - Our Neanderthal cousins apparently picked their knuckles off the ground long enough to dabble in makeup and baubles, leading researchers to suggest they were no less intelligent than our direct ancestors at the same time in history. Newly unearthed evidence of 50,000-year-old jewelry and even makeup in a cave...

Anthropologist: Modern Male Is 'Worst' Man Ever

We're not as robust, Aussie argues in new book

(Newser) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is such a girly man by Neanderthal standards that some caveman's wife could have kicked his ass in arm wrestling, an Australian anthropologist argues in his new book. In fact, Peter McAllister calls modern males the "worst" men in history, at least when it comes...

How Did Neanderthals Die? We Ate Them

New study suggests cannibalism by modern humans

(Newser) - Anthropologists may have solved the mystery of how the Neanderthals died out. A new study suggests they were hunted and eaten by modern human beings, reports the Guardian. The controversial theory argues that a Neanderthal jaw bone shows signs of butchering similar to the techniques humans used on deer in...

Scientists Find Fossil of 'Mother of All Primates'

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered a 47 million-year-old primate fossil that they believe represents the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes, and humans, reports the Wall Street Journal. The find supports a theory that humans' ancient ape-like ancestor was an adapid, which is also believed to be linked to lemurs. The...

Meet the First European

Forensic artist reconstructs face of first modern human found in Europe

(Newser) - Meet the first modern European. His face—or hers, as researchers have been unable to determine the sex—was reconstructed by a forensic artist based on a partial skull and jawbone discovered in a Romanian cave. The facial features linked to the 35,000-year-old bones recall the continent's immediate African...

Scientists Decode Neanderthal Genome

(Newser) - Scientists using ancient fossils have pieced together a rough draft of Neanderthals' genetic code, the Times of London reports. The development could eventually shed light on how they thought, spoke, and functioned, and why they disappeared. Because Neanderthals are humans' closest relatives, scientists may be able to get a better...

They Weren't Such 'Neanderthals'

Early man brighter than suspected, researchers find

(Newser) - Neanderthals were just as smart as their stone-age rivals, the latest research into the roots of mankind concludes. Scientific teams who learned how to make and use Neanderthal tools found their technology just as efficient as that used by Homo sapiens, reports the Independent. The study runs counter to theories...

Did We Slaughter the Neanderthals?

DNA probe sheds light on early humans' doom

(Newser) - Analysis of DNA from a thigh bone is helping solve the longstanding question of what happened to Neanderthals. Did they simply die off, were they killed by more modern humans—or did the two groups interbreed? DNA from the Neanderthal bone is so different from that of modern humans that...

New Fossil Rocks Human History
 New Fossil Rocks Human History
Mar 27, 2008 8:05 AM CDT

New Fossil Rocks Human History

Indicates man settled in Europe far earlier than thought

(Newser) - An incredibly old jawbone discovered in a Spanish cave could rewrite human history, scientists say. The bone with teeth is 1.2 million years old and belongs to a long-extinct human ancestor called Homo antecessor. It's at least 300,000 years older than any other human fossil found in Europe....

Stop Temper Tantrums Like a Caveman
Stop Temper Tantrums Like
a Caveman
Feb 22, 2008 12:28 PM CST

Stop Temper Tantrums Like a Caveman

Smart parents talk to kids like the vicious little primitives they are

(Newser) - When your kid has a temper tantrum, they’re a lot like a Neanderthal, reports LiveScience. Two-year-olds are still driven by instinct and emotion, explains one pediatrician, not the higher reasoning of mature adults. So don’t try to logic away a tantrum (“But honey you already have that...

Female Hunters May Have Doomed Neanderthals

Study says feminist practices put the 'reproductive core' in harm's way

(Newser) - "Stone Age feminism" may have contributed to the Neanderthals' extinction, says a recent study, which uses archaeological evidence to argue that Neanderthal females hunted—and were "stomped, gored, and worse"—alongside males. Pitting the "reproductive core" of a population that never topped 10,000 against giant...

Redheads May Date Back 200K Years
Redheads May Date Back
200K Years
Oct 26, 2007 10:15 AM CDT

Redheads May Date Back 200K Years

Scientists find evidence of flame-haired Neanderthals

(Newser) - Redheads made up at least 1% of the Neanderthal population, scientists have found by extracting genetic material from fossilized bones. The analyzed DNA yielded a gene that controls melanin production in skin and hair. "We can't say anything for the actual fossils we looked at, but we can be...

Me Caveman, Me Talk
Me Caveman, Me Talk
Oct 19, 2007 5:20 AM CDT

Me Caveman, Me Talk

Gene indicates Neanderthals may have had language capabilities like ours

(Newser) - Neanderthals may have spoken much like we do, new research shows. Scientists examined a gene linked to language called FOXP2 in the DNA of cavemen bones discovered in northern Spain, and found that it was identical to ours. The gene is the only one known to be involved in human...

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