MadSci Network: Evolution |
Neanderthals are closely related to modern humans and some believe we interbred and thus have neandertal genes. Others argue that Neandertals were outcompeted by modern humans. (Neanderthal comes from the German Neander Valley where the first remains were found. Since German changed the spelling of "valley" from Thal to tal, one can use the "h" or not).The following is from a description of the skull of Neanderthals: We look at the skull closely because it's here that we find the main distinguishing features. As the skull was generally longer and wider, the average cranial capacity of the Neanderthals is found to be slightly larger than that of moden humans; 1500 c.c. compared to 1375 c.c. (c.c. is cubic centimetres). We can't necessarily say that the Neanderthals were smarter because they had bigger brains. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest that they may have been dumber than the modern humans who lived at the same time as they did. . In any case, this difference isn't all that great. 20% of us have a cranial capacity greater than the Neanderthal average. hope this helps gabriel vargas md/phd
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