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Our Closest Relatives,
the Neanderthals
By: Stephen Thai
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Introduction
Homo Neanderthalensis
Lived in Europe and Southwestern Asia
138,000 to 28,000 years ago
Mostly an Ice Age Never numbered more than 100,000
1856, Neander Valley, Germany 1st Neanderthal skulls discovered
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Neanderthals and Humans
Common Ancestor
Homo Antecessor
465,000 600,000 years
ago
378 unit mtDNA strand
Humans did not evolvefrom Neanderthals
No evidence of
interbreeding (yet)
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Out of Africa Theory
1 million years ago Homo antecessormigrates
out, evolves into Neanderthals
Remaining homo antecessor
in Africa evolve into Homo
sapiens
100,000 years agoHumans migrate out, replacing
other hominids
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Neanderthal Bodies Relative to
Humans
5 ft, 185 lbs
Larger noses, heads, bones,muscles Bulkier, stronger than humans
Efficient and well suited to coldenvironments
Less agile Short limbs, wide pelvises
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Language
Hyoid Bone
Allows humans to produce wide range of
sounds necessary for language FOXP2
Language gene
Responsible for humans cognitive ability tounderstand complex language
Both present in Neanderthals
Did they speak a language?
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Brains
Approximately 20% larger than human brains But proportionally, Neanderthal brains were smaller
Back of the brain Deals with sight and touch
Well developed Front of brain
Deals with speech and thought
Relatively small compared with back
Left side of brain larger than right Right handed
Shorter childhood Less time to develop cognitive abilities
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Brain Sizes
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Culture
Social UnitConsisted of extended family members
Took care of the sick and injured
Mostly lived inside caves Like humans
Knew how to use fire
Constructed complex
temporary structures forshelter when migrating
Skinned animals
Lacked art
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Burials
1st known hominids to bury dead
Was it a ritual or simply to avoid attractingscavengers?
Sites contain multiple individuals Usually inside caves/ rock shelters
Some filled with items and pollen Intentional or no?
Occasional cannibalism
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Interaction with Humans
Usually avoided each other whenpossible Increasing numbers of humans in
Neanderthal habitats madeavoidance harder
Culture ChangesAdoption of bone and ivory tools
Puncturing holes into animal bonesfor decoration Early form of art for Neanderthals
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Hunting
Mostly hunted, occasionally foraged
Well suited to walking, running, hunting Thickness and high density of leg bones
Killed using stone point spears andaxes Rarely used ivory or bone until human
interaction
Women and sometimes even children
hunted Both men and women sustained numerous
injuries from hunts broken limbs
Few lived older than 30 years
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Extinction Theories
Climate Change Sudden swings between warm and
cold rapidly changed environment
Killed off many species that
Neanderthals depended on for food Not intelligent enough to develop
technology for surviving cold, esp.
compared to humans
Extinction coincided w/ coldest
period of Ice Age
Natural selection would favor
humans
Fails to explain extinction in Middle
East/ SW Asia
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Extinction cont.
Competition with Humans
Homo sapiensmore technologically advanced
Better tools for hunting and survivalDivision of labor
Human women did not hunt gatherers
Neanderthal women hunted higher rates of death
Result: reduced birth rates and survival rates ofyoung children for Neanderthals
More humans competing with less Neanderthals
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Sequence the Neanderthal genome DNA extracted from femur bone of
38,000 year old male fossil, Croatia
Helped in discovery of FOXP2gene
Neanderthal Genome Project
DNA similarities Human and Chimpanzee: 98.77%
Human and Neanderthal: 99.5%
Possible interbreeding?
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Summary Common ancestorHomo antecessor
465,000 600,0000 years ago 1st migration out of Africa evolved into Neanderthals
2nd Migration evolved into humans
Neanderthals bigger, stronger, bulkier
May have spoken a language Had hyoid bone and FOXP2 gene
Proportionally smaller brains
Culture Social units essential to survival
First known hominid burials
Both men and women hunted
Extinction Theories Climate Change
Competition with humans
Neanderthal Genome Project
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