Re: Modern Neanderthals?
David \ (email@example.com)
Thu, 17 Oct 1996 16:09:37 -0500
On Tue, 15 Oct 1996, Stephen Barnard wrote:
> Perhaps (a favorite word in this ng) they could interbreed but produce
> only sterile offspring. Just read Jean Auel. She has all the answers.
And of course, the presence of _sterile_ offspring is the hallmark of
species differentiation. I don't see anyone suggesting we consider
donkeys and horses members of the same species because they can mate and
produce a sterile donkey. Again, I'm not saying that H.n. and H.s. were
or weren't memebers ofthe same species, but that they true and final
measure is the presence of _firtile_ offspring capable of reproducing
with both parent's populations and producing firtile offspring capable of
reprodicing. . .etc, etc, you get the point.
As there are no H.n. out there to test the question in this matter, the
best way is to look at mitocondrial and genomic DNA studies. I don't
recall seeing anything published recently suggesting the presence of a
large amount of DNA that diverged from the general population and then
re-entered the genome. Of course if I'm wrong, please point me in the
On another note, anyone care to propose some other types of studies that
could help determine presence/non-presence of H.n. genomic matterial in
the H.s.s. genome?