Different species of 'homo's created Humans

[someotherguy]

So based on this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...n_4302031.html

The ancient genomes, one from a Neanderthal and one from a different archaic human group, the Denisovans, were presented on 18 November at a meeting at the Royal Society in London. They suggest that interbreeding went on between the members of several ancient human-like groups living in Europe and Asia more than 30,000 years ago, including an as-yet unknown human ancestor from Asia.

...

The first Neanderthal and the Denisovan genome sequences revolutionized the study of ancient human history, not least because they showed that these groups interbred with anatomically modern humans, contributing to the genetic diversity of many people alive today.

All humans whose ancestry originates outside of Africa owe about 2% of their genome to Neanderthals; and certain populations living in Oceania, such as Papua New Guineans and Australian Aboriginals, got about 4% of their DNA from interbreeding between their ancestors and Denisovans, who are named after the cave in Siberia’s Altai Mountains where they were discovered. The cave contains remains deposited there between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Normally Neanderthal is considered a different species from homo sapiens, so this might be yet another species getting into the sexy mix that is modern human.

Science strikes against bestiality ... with close human species <-- is that the lesson?

(Note, the 'homo' in subject is derived from 'Homo sapiens' and 'Homo neanderthalensis' as per: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal, and the other group is also gotta be 'homo something')

hmm, another note: if the subject is offensive, please change to something like 'humans may be descendant of three species'

[logintime]

This is an interesting field, to be sure, but I wouldn't want anyone here jumping to one conclusion or another about our ancestries. We didn't even know about the Denisovans until three years ago, and the field of genetic archaeology is still incredibly young.

[someotherguy]

I'm not sure how true this is. The biology books labelled them "Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis" already back when I was in elementary school. Fairly sure they've been considered a subspecies for a pretty long time.

I'm terrible at biology, so I have to go by the wiki, and according to it that's a minority view:

Neanderthals are generally classified by palaeontologists as the species Homo neanderthalensis, but a minority consider them to be a subspecies of Homo sapiens, (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis).[6] The first humans with proto-Neanderthal traits are believed to have existed in Europe as early as 600,000–350,000 years ago.[7]

[TheGravemind]

evolution is a lie


i might be joking

[Underverse]

We could breed with them, so I wouldn't say it's anything at all like bestiality.

Besides, we're not really different species from them

[Deleted]

This isn't new

Homo Sapiens & Neanderthals have always been different species - Infact they believe a 3rd existed a hybrid of the two

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We could breed with them, so I wouldn't say it's anything at all like bestiality.

Besides, we're not really different species from them

We're part of the same collection - like cats or dogs. Example tigers can breed with lions

[logintime]

There's also Homo Floresiensis, which isn't thought to have contributed to the modern human genome but is thought to have survived until somewhere around 12,000 years ago - much sooner than any of the other hominid species.

[Netherspark]

I'm not sure how true this is. The biology books labelled them "Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis" already back when I was in elementary school. Fairly sure they've been considered a subspecies for a pretty long time.

Neanderthals are completely separate, they colonized parts of Europe and Asia before Homo Sapiens even existed.

[cudomix]

We (modern humans) are actually classified as homo sapiens sapiens, ie. subspecies of homo sapiens. As for bestiality claims, they had human level (or very near) intelligence and they're our closest relatives in a sense, so it is a bit stupid analogy.

[Deleted]

Homo Sapiens & Neanderthals have always been different species

But two very different species can't have healthy offspring. The fact that Europeans today share some 2% of their genes with Neanderthals means that interbreeding with Neanderthal resulted in healthy offspring. This means our species weren't THAT far apart, or else it wouldn't be possible. I guess I'm just nitpicking.

Basically, Neanderthals weren't as stupid as tv shows make them appear. They were actually a lot like us. There were also some differences of course, but we also learned some things from them. Scientists still don't know what killed them in the end, there are just theories.

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We (modern humans) are actually classified as homo sapiens sapiens, ie. subspecies of homo sapiens. As for bestiality claims, they had human level (or very near) intelligence and they're our closest relatives in a sense, so it is a bit stupid analogy.

A new study concluded that Neanderthals even had the ability to talk in a similar fashion as ours. Apparently they studied some bone in the throat or neck area.
Neanderthals were actually very much like us, they even developed certain skills (can't remember exactly which) before us and we learned them from them.

[Systam]

The fact that Neandertals and Homo Sapien Sapiens interbred (and us with any other unknown homo subspecies) actually makes it more of a race distinction. Race, as we know it, isn't scientific. We're all very similiar genetically across the world. If neandertals were still around, they would be considered a nothing race, not another species.

[Deleted]

But two very different species can't have healthy offspring. The fact that Europeans today share some 2% of their genes with Neanderthals means that interbreeding with Neanderthal resulted in healthy offspring. This means our species weren't THAT far apart, or else it wouldn't be possible. I guess I'm just nitpicking.

Basically, Neanderthals weren't as stupid as tv shows make them appear. They were actually a lot like us. There were also some differences of course, but we also learned some things from them. Scientists still don't know what killed them in the end, there are just theories.

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A new study concluded that Neanderthals even had the ability to talk in a similar fashion as ours. Apparently they studied some bone in the throat or neck area.
Neanderthals were actually very much like us, they even developed certain skills (can't remember exactly which) before us and we learned them from them.

They wasn't very different. Do you consider tigers and lions as very different?

[Netherspark]

The fact that Neandertals and Homo Sapien Sapiens interbred (and us with any other unknown homo subspecies) actually makes it more of a race distinction. Race, as we know it, isn't scientific. We're all very similiar genetically across the world. If neandertals were still around, they would be considered a nothing race, not another species.

We'd still have science... we'd still be able to tell they are clearly a different species. There are some significant (although somewhat minor) differences, such as bone structure and brain power.

[Stir]

We'd still have science... we'd still be able to tell they are clearly a different species. There are some significant (although somewhat minor) differences, such as bone structure and brain power.

Actually, there's no such thing as 'clearly' a different species. Wolves and dogs are 'clearly' different species, and yet fertile hybrids of the two can be (and have been) created.
Tigers and lions are 'clearly' different species, and yet hybrids exist.

Then there's the three-way path: Three colonies of Species A are separated from one another and allowed to diverge on their own. They evolve into S1, S2 and s3. It's not uncommon that S2 can procreate with both S1 and S3, but S1 and S3 cannot procreate with one another. So S1 and S3 are clearly different species, yet BOTH belong to the same species as S2.

As you can see, dividing species isn't as simply as what's 'clearly' the case.

[Mrjhova]

It's pretty obvious to me what happened. We literally fucked the Neanderthals out of existence. It's pretty basic :P

[caninepawprints]

They wasn't very different. Do you consider tigers and lions as very different?

The tiger and lion are related enough to have offspring, but different enough that their offspring is not fertile. In that sense, it's a true hybrid. Neanderthals and modern man are an example of two species that are so closely related that they can not only interbreed, but their offspring are also fertile. The perfect modern example of this is wolves and dogs. They are closely related and can therefore have fertile offspring. Having fertile or infertile offspring tells us a lot about how closely related two species are.

I also recently read an article about a Neanderthal specimen that was found and it was heavily inbred. They said this was a common thing with Neanderthals given their small population, and that inbreeding could be the reason they died off as a species.

[Systam]

Well, the species difference is very arbitrary but what's needed (to be considered the same species) is the ability to produce FERTILE offspring. Not just offspring

[Deleted]

Different breed would perhaps be better... Then again facts always change

[LiiLoSNK]

This isn't new

Homo Sapiens & Neanderthals have always been different species - Infact they believe a 3rd existed a hybrid of the two

We're part of the same collection - like cats or dogs. Example tigers can breed with lions

This thread is teaching me so much about 'homo's!

[caninepawprints]

After looking into this a bit further, it seems Neanderthals, Denisovans, other homo species (such as the Hobbits -- yes, that's a real thing), and modern humans are all descendants of Homo heidelbergensis. The different strains of Homo came about because as H. heidelbergensis left Africa, they went separate ways and each group developed separately from one another. But because they all developed from the same Homo strain, they could all interbreed with each other.