Are Neanderthals the same species as us?

[Voskos]

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-n...ies-as-us.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Stringer

By Chris Stringer

Christopher Brian Stringer CBE FRS is a British physical anthropologist noted for his work on human evolution.

I still believe they are distinct species

In the face of this seemingly decisive evidence, why do I cling to my belief that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens are distinct species?

Well, in my view the problem is not with ancient couplings between our ancestors and Neanderthals, but with the limitations of the biological species concept.

We now know from the same kind of genomic research that many other species of mammal interbreed with each other - for example different kinds of baboons (genus Papio), wolves and wild dogs (Canis), bears (Ursus) and large cats (Panthera). In addition, one recent estimate suggests that at least 16% of all bird species interbreed with each other in the wild.

Thus the problem is not with Neanderthals and modern humans and all the other species that interbreed with each other, but with the biological species concept itself. It is only one of dozens of suggested species concepts, and one that is less useful in the genomic age, with its profuse demonstrations of inter-species mixing. The reality is that in most cases in mammals and birds, species diverge from each other gradually. It may take millions of years for full reproductive isolation to develop, something that clearly had not yet occurred for H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens.

In my view, if Neanderthals and Homo sapiens remained separate long enough to evolve such distinctive skull shapes, pelvises, and ear bones, they can be regarded as different species, interbreeding or not.

Humans are great classifiers, and we do like to keep things orderly. But we should not be surprised when the natural world (past and present) does not match up to our neat and simple schemes.

But what about the archaeological evidence that is also commonly cited in favour of uniting the Neanderthals with us as Homo sapiens - that they had 'cultural' behaviours such as burying their dead and painting designs on the walls of caves?

Well, interesting as that is, it should be excluded from the biological classification of species, since behaviours are potentially more plastic, evolve more quickly, and spread more easily within and between species than traits based on anatomy and DNA.

[ecptr]

[masoebu]

Dr. Stringer has been slowly warming up multiregionalism, but he does not embrace it to the extent that Wolpoff for example has. I don't feel qualified to dispute his professional opinion here.

But it would be interesting if someday Upper Paleolithic continuity is shown to be correct, and Neanderthal contribution to certain populations is very high!!!

[jakob]

I need to see a real neanderthal... I swear the reconstructions are made to look intentionally uglier.

[masoebu]

DEL