“What A Neanderthal!” This essay explores the widespread misconception regarding Homo Neanderthalensis, an extinct ‘cousin’ of the early modern human ancestors. The commonly held idea is that they were a drastically unintelligent species. The lesser known reality is that the Neanderthal was just as intelligent as the early modern humans that existed around the same time. The fallacies involved are bias consideration of evidence, overgeneralization, and common belief.…
TITLE OF THE ESSAY Introduction In the year of 1984, an almost complete skeleton, with the exception of the hands and feet, of an eight-year old boy was found by Kamoya Kimeu in Nariokotome near Lake Turkana in Kenya (Brown et al., 1986). The Nariokotome Boy, formerly known as the Turkana Boy/WT 15000, was very special in that it was the only hominid from the H.erectus produced with the most complete skeleton and was chronometrically dated back to about 1.6 million years (Brown et al., 1986). The hominid was about 160 cm (5’3”) tall with a brain size of 880cm3. This discovery was thought to be very crucial, because such well-preserved postcranial elements make for a very unusual and highly useful discovery, because these elements are scarce at other H.erectus sites (Text-Book).…
The features Homo sapiens included gracile skull and bodies. They had smaller or absent brow ridges. They had high and round cranium with a forehead which leads to very flat and small faces. H. sapiens also had small teeth and jaws but they had an obvious jaw. One of the reasons we are gracile is because of niche construction from cultural adaptation.…
From the fossils he was able to obtain, Stringer speculated in his book that the Denisovans were indeed a sister group to the Neanderthals and split from the Homo Heidelbergensis far before the Neanderthals did. The fact that the Denisova fossil is the “most robust of all” signals that its the species with the most archaic traits (Mednikova 2013: 149). This correctly confirms Stringers’ theory about the old age of the Denisovans relative to the Neanderthals. The Denisovan fossil also correctly confirms Stringer’s speculation of Denisovans’ close affinity to the Neanderthals. One of the evidence can be that the transverse section of the hand fossil is linked to the third and fourth phalanges of a Shanidar Neanderthal as well as the left third distal phalanx of the Kiik-Koba Neanderthal.…
Bipedalism is the most easily identifiable human trait. No other living mammal walks habitually upright like people do. In The Wisdom of the Bones, Walker and Shipman recount Raymond Dart’s studies of Australopithecines. They found that Australopithecines were more primitive like chimpanzees rather than having human-like intelligence.…
It was found that the skull of a chimpanzee was smaller than the normal skull, in results finding a new form of the chimpanzee. This discovery was the explanation for the bonobos; the closest primate to the Homo sapien. It was also explained in the text that the reason it took this long for bonobos to be found is because they were so similar to chimpanzees. The text then introduces Robert Yerkes to the readers, an author of “The Great Apes and Chimpanzees” and founder of the worlds most important primate research center. It was noted during the studies, the different temperaments between the male and female chimpanzees in this center.…
Of all the relatives of modern humans Neanderthals remain the most famous. There are far more Neanderthal specimens, artifacts, and fossils available for research than any other. Immense numbers of viable conclusions may be drawn about Homo neanderthalensis as they were the first ancient non-human relative ever discovered and have therefore been studied the most extensively over the greatest period of time (LaRose). However, there is one great mystery still unsolved about this species; what caused their extinction?…
Introduction Neanderthals, though extinct, are the closest relatives of modern humans (Szalay 2013). Their appearance was similar to that of Homo sapiens, but they came with a few minor differences including larger brow ridges, shorter height, and a more muscular build. However, an aspect of Neanderthals has often sparked heated debates among researchers and anthropologists: Were Neanderthals intelligent, or unintelligent? This paper will evaluate the two sides of this debate, with a focus on anthropologist John D. Speth’s position, and determine which opposition is more convincing based on the logic of given evidence.…
Scientists have compared human and Neanderthal skulls, and have found that the Neanderthal brain size is equal to, or maybe greater, than our own (''What makes you human?'') . While comparing skulls, scientists also found a huge nasal cavity. This, combined with a huge chest, resulted in a high, squeaky, voice(Parmer). Based on remains found, Neanderthals also had a muscular build, with thick limbs (''Homo Neanderthalensis'') .…
As the website of The History Channel says, "looking for the origins of mankind is a history of bone and tales they tell. It was in 1856 that the first bones of an ancestor of the missing man ... were encountered Neanderthals. "The television program, however, contradicting website States that Neanderthals not only have a brain larger than most human beings and had a greater sense of smell, they were around during the time of modern man, and therefore were not our ancestors. They are not a "real missing link" of a "forerunner of the missing man." For a clear refutation of Neanderthals as being something of a brute ancestor of ours, which is still paraded in the media and in school textbooks as evidence of the evolution of molecules to man.…
Exam 2 - Spring 2017 ANTH-1020 Madison Lara Chapter 5 - Process of Macroevolution #4 on Page 119Humans are fairly generalized mammals. What is meant by this? Discuss specific features (characters) to illustrate this statement? Humans have only been able to thrive as much as we have because of our generalization.…
Neanderthals as well had a relatively vast rib cage while the rib cage of a Homo sapien was smaller. Another difference was in the amount of calorie intake each species took in. In comparison to modern humans, the Neanderthal needs for energy were around 100 to 350 more in a just a day. What played a big role in the extinction of Neanderthals is when food suddenly became difficult to find or to obtain. Their teeth only took a short period of time to fully grow, which was a helpful indicator of somatic development.…
Their brain size, along with apes, was thought of to be fifty times smaller than Shakespeare (Hollinsworth 1998, p. 40). Their intelligence was thought to be limited because they could not count the number of fingers on their hands (Hollinsworth 1998, p. 40). Their language also showed no justice or goodwill, but they were considered to be slightly more teachable than an ape (Hollinsworth 1998, p. 40). Scientists also stole the skulls of Aboriginal people and studied them in relation to ape and European skulls. They found that the European is not a direct descendant of the ape and the Australian Aboriginal but…
In human history, we came to find that there are many different species relating to the human species. One of these species is called the Neanderthals or also known as cavemen. Approximately 40,000 years ago the neanderthals lived but, they vanished instantly at a period of time. Not many people know why or how this happened, who really were the neanderthals and finally what they were like. Neanderthals were a species that branched off of our ancestral tree.…
During the time of the Homo sapiens, a fossil called the Hobbit indicated that the genus Homo may have not all evolved in Africa. The species may have left Africa without even realizing it because of a climate change that spread grasslands into Asia. Larger brains were an important process of coming closer to the evolution of human evolution. As time went on, the brains began larger and more similar to…