Unlocking the Secrets of Our Neandertal Relatives: 400,000 Years of History - Essay Sample

Introduction

Neandertals are an extinct cluster of people and the nearest evolutionary relatives to the present human beings. The eldest recognized Neandertals are about 400,000 years old (Hublin, 16022). The group became extinct almost 40,000 years ago, and have a history of having lived in Western Siberia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe (Hublin, 16022). Neandertals are named after the place where workers in a limestone quarry identified portions and skeletons of them in 1856 (O'Neil, 1). Though the skeleton was similar to the present human beings, there were some distinctions. The Neandertals had large eyebrow protuberances and a big forehead. They also had a chinless face with uncommon nasal cavities (Gibbons, 1). This made it simple for Neandertals to warm cold air as they inhaled it. Neandertals had stronger bones, wider pelvis, and shorter limbs. They were up to 1.70 meters tall, with sturdy stature and strong, wide and deep chest, which made them well adapted to the cold weather of the Ice Age since they lost less warmth (O'Neil, 1). The male Neandertals had a weight of up to 90 kilograms. It is important to study the history of Neandertals so as to understand modern human evolution.

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Findings from genetic research reveal that Neandertals had a variety of hair colors and skin tones, just like the present human beings. The most conspicuous difference between the current humans and Neandertals is their peculiar face (Hublin, 16023). Because the brain does not petrify, it was impossible to directly examine the brain structure of early humans. However, indirect hints are available such as the outline of the skull. The intrinsic volume of Neandertal's and current human's brain skull indicate that they have the same size. The structures within the cranium uncover the shape of the basal brain and various lobes. Jean-Jacques Hublin and his fellows from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig used the up-to-date computer tomography to make 3D X-rays of fossil skulls and virtual impressions of the skull on the computer (Hublin, 16023). The demonstration unearthed that the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex that are involved in speech and memory, and the olfactory lobes of Homo sapiens are bigger than the one for Neandertals. The revelation signifies a better or distinctly working sense of smell in modern human beings.

Neandertals might have lived at a quicker pace since they appear like they grew up faster than Homo sapiens. For instance, the examination of the enamel of a younger Neandertal depicts that their complete dentition was finished almost two years earlier than the younger modern humans (Max Planck Gesellschaft, 3). The lengthened development period eases learning and probably offered Homo sapiens a decisive advantage over the others. There were also disparities in brain development. During birth, both Homo sapiens and Neandertals have brains of almost a similar size and extended skulls. Whereas the usual round skull in modern humans develops in their first year of life, a similar phase of brain development lacks in Neandertals (Gibbons, 3). Such disparities have possibly had an impact on the neural structure of the brain, and therefore, on the mental, communicative and emotional capabilities of Neandertals. Basing on these findings, scientists suspect that Neandertals did not perceive the world as modern human beings do.

Nonetheless, researchers believe that Neandertals had the ability to speak and anatomical prerequisites for this have been provided. The evaluation of an invisible bone of a Neandertal aged 60,000 years revealed that the hyoid bone of Neandertals was outlined in the same way as that of modern humans. Numerous tendons and ligaments connect to the hyoid bone, offering the essential mobility of the tongue for speech (Trinkaus, 3692). From this finding, several researchers conclude that the Neandertals could speak, be it using a radical language or a complicated language similar to modern humans may not be said.

However, Neandertals should have been in possession of the capacity to pass on knowledge to their generations. Such can be signified by the majority of their capabilities like production of complex tools, usage of fires, or cluster hunting of big game (Hublin, 16024). Additionally, recent studies show that they understood abstract thinking and utilized symbols like jewelry and paintings to communicate. Evidence reveals that some of them practiced the ritual of burying their dead. Genetic research conducted by Jean-Jacques and his colleagues depicts that Neandertals had a number of features of the protein encoded by the FOXP2 gene that is relevant for language (Max Planck Gesellschaft, 5).

During the 20th century, researchers remodeled the origin of Neandertals basing on bone analysis. A lower jaw uncovered in 1907 around Heidelberg is among the oldest piece of evidence for the existence of members of the genus Homo in Europe aged about 600,000 years (Trinkaus, 3692). Teeth and jaws are the anatomical combinations of African Homo erectus and Neandertals. Homo heidelbergensis, which is occasionally categorized as its own species, might, therefore, signify the transition between the two groups.

I agree that though several Neandertals remains have been unearthed, full skeleton remains have remained rare to find. Most of the remains were discovered in the early 20th century using rough excavation techniques. Even with more than 150 years of research about Neandertals, the knowledge about them has remained significantly incomplete (O'Neil, 3). However, the new fields of palaegenetics and palaeoproteomics that were introduced have revealed more extensive knowledge concerning these people. Svante Paabo, a pioneer in these two fields at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, has composed a team that has developed fresh approaches with which they can discover and examine the genetic material that is still contained in bones that are hundreds of decades-old (Gibbons, 4). The comparison of DNA from between modern humans, Neandertals, and other ancient humans unearth the origin and ancestry of the various human forms. The DNA examination conducted by Paabo and his team reveals that the lines of Neandertals and Homo sapiens sequestrated almost 600,000 years ago. African Homo sapiens emerged around 30, 000 decades ago (Hublin, 16025). Neandertals transformed in Europe and the Denisovans in Asia. Therefore, Neandertals are never relatives to modern humans, as their evolution was parallel to them.

Researchers believed that evolution occurred independently with each other until recently. In fact, when Paabo and the team provided the Neandertal mitochondrial genome, there was nothing that indicated the exchange of genes. Nonetheless, when Paabo was ultimately successful in decoding the nuclear Neandertal genome, it was apparent that Neandertals passed on huge portions of their genome to the present humans (Trinkaus, 3692). As a result, 1-2% of the genomes of individuals currently living in non-African countries originate from Neandertal. Additionally, Denisovans, an Asian ancestor of Neandertals uncovered in 2010 by Johannes Krause and Paabo's team, passed their genes to the present-day Asian ancestors. Subsequently, 5% of the genome of persons staying in Papua New Guinea originate from Denisovans (Hublin, 16026).

Lately, the team led by Paabo discovered that different forms of humans mixed with one another. For instance, when they examined the DNA of the lower jaw of present-day humans who stayed in Romania for 40,000 years ago, they realized that the proportion of Neandertal DNA in this person so big that he should have been related to Neandertal ancestry between 4-6 generations back in his family tree (Hublin, 16026). Even much remarkably, Viviane Slon who was in Paabo's team, in 2018 extracted DNA from a bone shard from the Denisova Cave and revealed that it was from a woman with a Neandertal mum and a Denisovan dad (Max Planck Gesellschaft, 6). Slon's revelation suggests that Neandertals and Denisovans had siblings together regularly each time they interacted with one another.

Present-day humans appear to have been beneficiaries of the Neandertal genetic variations. For instance, investigators have identified segments of Neandertal DNA in today's humans and are accountable for the lowering of fats. Currently, some Neandertal genes enhance the immune system. An example can be extracted from variants of toll-like receptors that are significant for the way the immune system is capable of clearing infections that have been imparted by Neandertals and Denisovans to present-day humans and appear to have been essential since they have heightened in Europe and Asia (Gibbons, 4).

Moreover, the brain development of today's humans has been affected by variations in Neandertals. They have an influence on the skull's shape and on areas of the brain that are involved in planning and coordinating locomotion (O'Neil, 4). Investigators identified powerful evidence for the effects of the Neandertal DNA on gene activity in basal ganglia called the putamen and the cerebellum.

The inherent effects of Neandertals also include skin tone, sleep, hair hue, mood, and if someone smokes. On average, people with particular Neandertal variants smoke more regularly. People who refer to themselves as night people also have certain Neandertal variants in their DNA (Trinkaus, 3692). Researchers have matched Neandertal gene variations in the modern human genome with genetic data from a British database that also has individual information on looks, diseases, nutrition, and behavior.

Being gatherers and hunters, Neandertals are deemed to traversed thousands of square kilometers on earth. They are said to have stayed in small groups of about 50-60 people. As revealed by genetic examinations, even Neandertals that stayed very far from each other were found to be closely related. Investigations reveal that ancient humans were occasionally rare. Even when they were wide-spread, Neandertals across Europe did not exceed 10,000 (Max Planck Gesellschaft, 8).

From the analysis of amino acids in bones and teeth, it was found that Neandertals fed on meat. They were the best hunters and killed even bigger creatures such as mammoths, horses, and bison. They also included vegetables in their diet. Neandertals are said to have been technically proficient. For over 200,000 years Neandertal remains have been linked to Mousterian stone tools (Trinkaus, 3693). The Mousterian areas have tools like points, side-scrapers as well as different kinds of flakes usually made from flint. About 44,000-40,000 years ago, Neandertals ultimately created the culture of the Chatelperronien (Gibbons, 5). Till this time, it was not clear whether Neandertals or Homo sapiens made the tools and jewelry of this era. It was solely via palaeogenetics and palaeoproteomics that Jean-Jacques and Paabo had the ability to prove that Neandertals had made the tools that had been earlier attributed to today's humans.

Currently, it is known that Neandertals also manufactured symbolic tools and paintings. About 18, 000 decades ago, Neandertals made a circle of fragmented stalactites in a cave located in southwestern France (O'Neil, 5). The use of this oldest recognized building of ancient humans is not known. Graveyards imply that these people have dealt with bereavements, which had till then been associated with Homo sapiens by investigators. Because the older most cave paintings, figures, ornamented bone equipment, and jewelry recognized in Europe to date from the era of the Late Paleolithic Revolution about 4, 000 decades ago and Homo sapiens entered into Europe at this time, several researchers presume these things had been made by today's humans (Max Planck Gesellschaft, 11).

From the investigations done, researchers co...