Could our big brains come from Neanderthals?

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Psychlone
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09 Nov 2006, 8:59 am

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/11 ... index.html

Quote:

Lahn's team found a brain gene that appears to have entered the human lineage about 1.1 million years ago, and that has a modern form, or allele, that appeared about 37,000 years ago -- right before Neanderthals became extinct.

"The gene microcephalin (MCPH1) regulates brain size during development and has experienced positive selection in the lineage leading to Homo sapiens," the researchers wrote.

I can't help but wonder if this further supports the Neanderthal theory of autism.

manalitwist
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10 Nov 2006, 9:32 pm

My cock does.

hyperbolic
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11 Nov 2006, 12:31 am

Quote:

My cock does.

Are you commenting on the fact that human-Neanderthal interbreeding, according to the research that has been presented, may have introduced the gene, and that you would have been willing to breed with a Neanderthal female in order to give this gene to your hybrid offspring?

I have spoken with an intelligent friend of mine who is interested in anthropology and genetics about this CNN.com article. My friend is not entirely convinced that Homo Sapien - Homo Neanderthal interbreeding was the result of the mutated microcephalin gene. He feels that it is possible that it is the result of a single Homo Sapien tribe that emigrated from sub-Saharan Africa. This tribe would have populated Eurasia and therefore spread the mutated microcephalin gene of the D allelle. My friend also believes that it could be possible to classify sub-Saharan Africans into a subspecies based on some of the differences they have with people of a Eurasian origin, but I disagree with him there -- I do not think these differences are important or distinct enough to warrant such a classification.

manalitwist
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11 Nov 2006, 6:10 am

xon wrote:

Quote:

My cock does.

Yes. If it helps humanity (Well, women as i am not homosexual and neither will be my offspring).

Scrapheap
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11 Nov 2006, 3:37 pm

Most science I've seen says that Neanderthals are a parallel speicies with no evidence of cross-breeding.

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manalitwist
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11 Nov 2006, 5:33 pm

Scrapheap wrote:

Most science I've seen says that Neanderthals are a parallel speicies with no evidence of cross-breeding.

Are you basing this "science"-(biology?) on the size of your penis?

Scrapheap
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11 Nov 2006, 11:34 pm

manalitwist wrote:

Scrapheap wrote:

Most science I've seen says that Neanderthals are a parallel speicies with no evidence of cross-breeding.

Are you basing this "science"-(biology?) on the size of your penis?

troll, troll, troll your boat..................

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Odin
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13 Nov 2006, 12:27 am

What horrible logic. Just because the allele occured at the same time modern humans first populated Europe to a significant degree doesn't mean the allele came from Neandertals, correlation does not equal causation. The article is sensationalist crap. I've alraady heard about this gene in a recent book on human evolution called Before the Dawn and it made no mention about some supposed link with Neandertals.

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manalitwist
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13 Nov 2006, 6:58 am

Scrapheap wrote:

manalitwist wrote:

Scrapheap wrote:

Most science I've seen says that Neanderthals are a parallel speicies with no evidence of cross-breeding.

Are you basing this "science"-(biology?) on the size of your penis?

troll, troll, troll your boat..................

You, cantankerous grumpy humorless old sod

Xuincherguixe
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13 Nov 2006, 7:06 am

Scrapheap wrote:

manalitwist wrote:

Scrapheap wrote:

Most science I've seen says that Neanderthals are a parallel speicies with no evidence of cross-breeding.

Are you basing this "science"-(biology?) on the size of your penis?

troll, troll, troll your boat..................

*highfives!*

Also, we don't have larger brains. Neanderthals did though.

I also understand that intelligence has more to do with how many nuerons are connected, than their number, or the 'mass' of ones brain (they're pretty much all about the same weight aren't they?)

Scrapheap
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16 Nov 2006, 2:22 am

manalitwist wrote:

Scrapheap wrote:

manalitwist wrote:

Scrapheap wrote:

Most science I've seen says that Neanderthals are a parallel speicies with no evidence of cross-breeding.

Are you basing this "science"-(biology?) on the size of your penis?

troll, troll, troll your boat..................

You, cantankerous grumpy humorless old sod

Your "jokes" are simply stupid. :roll:

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Enigmatic
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16 Nov 2006, 3:02 am

Xuincherguixe wrote:

Also, we don't have larger brains. Neanderthals did though.

I also understand that intelligence has more to do with how many nuerons are connected, than their number, or the 'mass' of ones brain (they're pretty much all about the same weight aren't they?)

That's very true; comparing a Neanderthal's brain to a modern H. Sapiens Sapiens' brain is like comparing one of those old file cabinet-sized punch card computers to a present day desktop PC (respectively).

hale_bopp
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16 Nov 2006, 6:23 am

Neanderthals can't interbreed with Sapiens!

Geez, it's a known fact.

mcewen
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16 Nov 2006, 7:54 am

I don't know, can bring about some interesting results. You decide, Neanderthals or Sapiens, or some random mix? What label of functioning would you choose? Where do you draw the line? There's lot of them out there!
To breed or not to breed?
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Psychlone
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16 Nov 2006, 8:12 am

hale_bopp wrote:

Neanderthals can't interbreed with Sapiens!

Geez, it's a known fact.

Actually it isn't a known fact.

Consider that Donkeys and Horses can interbreed despite being seperate species. The result is a mule. The hybrids produced by interbreeding between two species are almost always sterile, though.

CanyonWind
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16 Nov 2006, 4:12 pm

I'm not sure how it could be a known fact unless bopp invented a time machine and went off adventuring. I'm afraid to speculate on what she was researching.

Maybe Hugh Grant will star as the neanderthal in the movie version: "Smelly Nights in Mammoth Skins."

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