Culture, Not Skulls, Gave Humans Edge Over Neanderthals

invictus

3-18-2008 11:46 AM

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/52f4a873-96e9-47c6-85a5-1281c55c3318/6C021019-B02B-467A-B2B5-BCC15F64DA8C/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html" href="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.livescience.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html"><P class="MsoNormal">
The first modern humans had something Neanderthals didn't. About
30,000 years ago, our Neanderthal neighbors died off while we survived. Scientists
are unsure what gave us an edge, but new research could help narrow down the
possibilities.
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.livescience.com/img/7830F776-EB4A-4278-BBE7-2DE8B3F28183" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html"><P class="MsoNormal">
A team of anthropologists has compared measurements of <A href="http://www.livescience.com/history/070115_human_fossils.html">Neanderthal
skulls</A> to modern human skulls, and argues that most variations among them
are the result of random changes that occur over time, and not of adaptations
driven by natural selection. 
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html">
"We're actually saying that the differences between
modern humans' skulls and Neanderthals' are not due to changes that increased
people's ability to survive and reproduce," said researcher Tim Weaver</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html">"Whatever advantages humans had over Neanderthals didn’t have to do with
the size and shape of the cranium."</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/history/080317-neanderthal-skulls.html"><P class="MsoNormal">
In other words, modern humans don't seem to have developed skeletal
adaptations that gave them better eyesight, hearing or smell than <A href="http://www.livescience.com/history/050310_neanderthal_reconstruction.html">Neanderthals</A>.
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