This research totally debunks the often quoted cliché that Neanderthals were thick brutes. They were not if one compares brain shape and volume of Neanderthals with our brain shape and size.
Brain shape and volume varies with different races across the planet. And the variation in brain shape and volume of the Neanderthals falls within the limits of modern day variations. It is as if they were just another race.
Another point is that all modern humans of today carry 1-2 percent of Neanderthal DNA. They are part of us.
The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Modern humans – homo sapiens – have outlived Neanderthals – who became extinct about 40,000 years ago. But the truth is that homo sapiens ‘absorbed’ the Neanderthal DNA through interbreeding (cross-breeding). Hybrids were created and eventually the Neanderthal DNA disappeared. That’s how they disappeared.
Incidentally, that method of extinction is mirrored in the functional extinction of the Scottish wildcat (I wanted to get cats into the article somehow 😎). The Scottish wildcat interbred with tabby feral cats in numbers at a time when almost all domestic cats were indoor/outdoor cats.
This resulted in hybrid – non-purebred – Scottish wildcats that looked very similar to the real thing but less stocky with a slightly modified coat pattern.
Extinction can occur through distinct species cross breeding resulting in hybrids. In the purebred cat world this happens a lot but deliberately to create a new breed. Those days are over, however. The peak time from this kind of cat breeding was the mid 20th century. Times have moved on as there are already too many cat breeds it is argued.
The classic hybrid cat is the Bengal or Savannah; both wildcat hybrids. A cross between a wild cat (the serval in the case of the Savannah) and a domestic cat (often a Savannah cat).
