Should we bring back the neanderthal species?

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All of the archaelogical evidence suggests that the neanderthal species, despite its unfair popular perception was superior to homosapiens in almost every respect, including intelligence due to a larger brain capacity.

I think maybe we should clone neanderthals from bone samples? Perhaps we could learn from their greater intellect. I've suspected for a while now that mankind has 'lost out' from not having a 'cousin species' closer than chimpanzees or gorillas. It could give us a different perspective on life and the way we treat the Earth around us.

Sure, why not?

Citations, please.

Aw Man!! ! You beat me to it.

http://news.discovery.com/history/neand ... ought.html

http://www.watoday.com.au/world/neander ... 20e1a.html

Can you show where either citation suggests that "the neanderthal species was superior to homosapiens in almost every respect"? In fact, one of the links specifically says:

As for brain size, Neanderthals are believed to have had a slightly larger brain, but keep in mind that a larger brain does not necessarily mean "more intelligent". If it did, then men would be, on average, more intelligent than women and instead of IQ tests, we would merely need to measure the volume of individual brains.

According to Mountcastle, Vernon B, Perceptual Neuroscience The Cerebral Cortex, 1998, Harvard University Press, the volume of modern man's brain is about 1434 cubic cm and of women's brain is about 1325 cubic cm while Neanderthal's was about 1470 cubic cm. That isn't an appreciable difference. Furthermore, from the book:



Table 2-2 referenced in the above quote shows a minimum adult brain size of 1173.3 cubic cm and a maximum of 1625.6 cubic cm as measured by Filapek et al.

Elephants have bigger brains than do neanderthals, modern men, or modern women.

Sperm whales (the species that moby dick belonged to) have the biggest brains of all- bigger even than the brains of the bigger blue whales (the largest animals on the planet).

Men have bigger brains than women because men have bigger body sizes.


Neanderthals were bigger boned and more muscular on average than we are. So relative to their body wieght they may not have been brainier than us.

Even if they were, and even if they were indeed 'smarter' than we are they were probably less able to pool their wisdom than we are through communication.

The Mousterian (neanderthal) stone tool culture was superior to that of the lower paleolithic ( homo erectus), but was way surpassed by that of the upper paleolithic (anatomical moderns).

There was as steady increase in "cutting edge per once of stone" in the stone tools of stone age cultures -the neanderthals were superior to their predecessors but inferior the anatomical moderns ( us when we were cave men) who drove them to extinction.

I doubt that they were unambiguously "smarter" than we are.

But their extinction was probably more complex than them being just dumber than we are either. They probably lacked some key mental talent that we have-like communication- or language skills.

All the more reason to clone them- I say- and find out!

BTW- its not as simple as the ratio of body size to brain size either.

Smaller animals have bigger brains relative to their sizes than do big animals (chihuahuas have bigger brains relative to their sizes than do st. Bernards but have no greater intelligence).

The animal with biggest brain relative to its size is the gibbon.
But gibbons are very small apes. And they are the least intelligent of apes- lower in IQ than Orangutans, chimps, bonobos, gorillas, and ofcourse humans.

So-its complex.

But one on one- a neanderthal could kick an anatomical modern's ass in any physical fight.

We don't have a complete Neanderthal genome, nor are we likely to get one.

The Neanderthals died out because we were smarter then they were. Do you want to dumb down the human race?

ruveyn

Exactly. Why create a race of humans that will be inferior? It would be cruel and twisted to the Neandertals themselves.

I think if we can give them another chance as a species, we owe them that..

They appeared to be more on about the same level as us and we allegedly have Neanderthal DNA in our genome.

We really have no idea what happened to them.

I have also heard this. I am curious about the differenced in genome between the two, and would be highly supportive of cloning the species if we had the full genome (A comment above believes we do not).

Knowing what happened to them would also be very interesting. Did we really wipe them out? the worlds population was much much lower back then was it not? couldn't they have found places to be without us interfering or were we that dead set on killing them all? Did one steal a cave man's woman? like what?

I don't think anyone knows why they disappeared.

As for the genome, we have a lot of DNA from a number of other sources. For example, the human genome contains DNA from the Borna Virus.

We have extracted SOME of their DNA from their bones.
But its not the whole genome. But enough to be instructive.

Modern hunter-gatherers have a much lower population density than do farming peoples. We were all hunter gatherers back then-so-yes- the population of both anatomical moderns and of neanderthals was microscopic compared to today's population size.

Our ancestors didnt make a creed out of genocide against neanderthals. We just out competed them and drove them to extinction over several thousand years. But we probably made war, and made love, with them occasionally. The fact that some of us today still have a little neanderthal DNA is a legacy of the latter.

Could they have survived in remote areas until the present?
Thats actually been suggested.
There are local legends of creatures called the "Almas" in parts of Eurasia -like the Caucasus mountains. Kinda like bigfoot, or the Yeti,- except that bigfoot is a little more ape like. The almas are said to be a little more humanlike. That is-they resemble actual extinct hominids like Peking man or neanderthal man. Could the almas be surviving Neanderthals?

I dont buy the theory myself. But it would be cool if it were true. Who knows?

That theory is being revised, its now believed that they inter bred with homosapiens and simply blended into the homosapien gene pool. Which is why some present people had neanderthal traits.

I don't know if neanderthals would have become a more advanced society than us if they had the chance to flourish but it would be interesting if we had live ones around.

The last known pure bred Neanderthal colony is from 25 000 BC Gibralatar.