Comments on: Have You Hugged a Neanderthal Today? Probably!

By: Massachusetts

Massachusetts — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:32:57 +0000

I feel I’ve been cheated. Where’s my massive upper body development/super strength that should come with my Neanderthal genes? Grrr. Argh.

Seriously though, it makes you wonder. I worked out with some guys in college who were just wayyyy stronger. Not jocks, not athletes, just friends (one a math major) who were benching maybe 100 pounds more than me even though we worked out together and did the same kinds of exercises.

I wonder if they had more Neanderthal genes in that particular area than me? There’s always going to be genetic variation, but since we now know we have Neanderthal DNA in our genomes, and they were, from the archeological record, known to be rather pumped and powerful…

By: John Kirk

John Kirk — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:58:59 +0000

This is what the Russians have been saying for ages. However, they also have claimed that there have been recent interbreeding between homo sapiens and Neanderthals. Hence Zana.

Neanderthals are from the genus Homo, so like us, they are people and it is not surprising that some of us descend from them. All you have to do is look at my browridge and know that they are in our bloodlines.

By: darkhb

darkhb — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:07:17 +0000

Ah, now I know why I can’t stand hot humid weather like we’ve had in the Northeast all week; why I like it cool and love snow – it’s my Neanderthal genes!

By: Redrose999

Redrose999 — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:07:07 +0000

I also want to add, I hug mine every day. All five of them! And the poodle too!

By: Redrose999

Redrose999 — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:06:00 +0000

Heh, pretty darned cool actually. It’s sad people will be pissy about it. They need to get over it.

By: flame821

flame821 — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 22:38:06 +0000

It does sound interesting, but I think we need a lot more studies done to confirm some of the claims. Don’t forget sequencing is in its infancy and while I agree this does make sense and the initial results are promising I’m not going to get carried away until I see more independent results to back it up.

The saddest part for me is the actual thread about this on Discovery. I’m on their RSS feed and I can tell you how quickly this turned into a racial argument and that is the last thing we need as a species. Our populations are exploding, resources becoming scarcer, environmental pressures increasing every day. I don’t want to see preliminary science (or any science) be turned into a wedge. As humans we need to work together if we want any decent chance of survival.

Its sad that some of us are full of curiosity and hope regarding finding possible unknown cousins of the Primate Family, while other people are looking for ANY reason to exclude their own brothers and sisters from the family tree.

By: Cryptoraptor

Cryptoraptor — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 22:28:54 +0000

Many people of Sub-Saharan African descent living in the US have VERY significant Caucasian ancestry, including the President, Louis Farrakhan, Rapper Ice T, Halle Berry, Colin Powell, Alicia Keyes, Beyonce, etc. 10% of African-Americans have over 50% Caucasian ancestry. The AVERAGE African American, depending on the study cited, has between 18-30% white ancestry. So, most people in the US, including most African Americans, DO have Neanderthal ancestry as do non-African-Americans. It is more accurate to say that most Sub-Saharan Africans native to Africa do not have Neanderthal ancestry (according to the latest science info).