Not just for throwing! Australian Neanderthals used boomerangs to carve stone tools 500,000 years ago, new analysis reveals Researchers studied 100 ancient boomerangs held at the Australian Museum They used methods to study the wear on the boomerangs to track their use The team discovered Australian neanderthals had many different uses for them Over 500,000 … Read more
Three genes inherited from Neanderthals slash the risk of severe Covid-19 by 22 per cent, a new study has revealed. The genes sit next to each other on chromosome 12, and this large chunk of genetic material includes 75,000 individual pieces of DNA. Researchers compared the DNA of 2,200 Covid-19 patients from around the world … Read more
The fossilised tooth of a Neanderthal child found in a cave near Jerusalem could be proof our cousins made it into Africa as Cairo is just 400km away, study claims. Archaeologists from the Max Planck Institute re-examined the fossil record from Shuqba Cave – 28km northwest of Jerusalem – including a child’s tooth. The tooth was … Read more
The remains of a two-year-old Neanderthal who died some 41,000 years ago had been lain carefully in a grave that was covered with fresh soil, a study has concluded. The poor child’s skeleton was unearthed in 1973 from a rock shelter at the La Ferrassie dig site in Savignac-de-Miremont, Dordogne, southwest France. Researchers from France re-examined the … Read more
Neanderthals could grasp a hammer but would have struggled to pick up a coin because the joints in their thumbs made precision grips more challenging than ‘power squeezes’ By Ian Randall For Mailonline Published: 16:29 GMT, 26 November 2020 | Updated: 16:29 GMT, 26 November 2020 The thumbs of Neanderthals would have meant they could … Read more
Newborn Neanderthals already had the barrel-shaped ribs characteristic of their seniors — a trait that allowed them to have more bodyweight — a study has found. Researchers led from France made the first ever three dimensional reconstructions of four of the archaic human’s infants by scanning fossilised remains. The team found that Neanderthal ‘nippers’ were … Read more
Since being identified more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have often been presented as dimwitted, barely a step up from our ape ancestors. But scientists have increasingly found evidence our closest extinct human relatives were far more sophisticated – they developed advanced tools, made art and music and used medicine. Now there’s evidence their palate … Read more
Neanderthals weren’t as tough as they seemed: Ancient species had a LOWER pain threshold than most modern-day humans – and the one in 250 people who carry their genes today are still more sensitive, study shows Genetic analysis found almost all of Neanderthals had a specific gene mutation This mutation is also found in around … Read more
Neanderthals’ low genetic diversity may have caused their extinction by hampering their ability to adapt to environmental changes, a study has suggested. Experts studied variations in the upper neck bone of Neanderthals found in Spain and Croatia — the proliferation of which is associated with low genetic diversity. A varied gene pool confers evolutionary strength, … Read more
Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens were so closely related that they were able to interbreed and have offspring that were fertile and healthy, a study suggests. Analysis from the University of Oxford reveals the species were more genetically similar than brown bears and polar bears are today. This significant overlap provided genetic compatibility and allowed … Read more