#neandertals — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #neandertals, aggregated by home.social.
-
In painted #caves, ancient #human #DNA clings to the walls
Traces could someday help link #prehistoric #paintings to the people who made them
Study cannot link DNA to artists behind #cavepaintings. But the knowledge that human DNA can be preserved on cave walls for thousands of years may enable future work that probes role of women in ancient art, traces the movement of artists and brings clarity to the debate over #Neandertals’ artistic abilities.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-human-dna-cave-walls
https://archive.ph/TNBC3 -
A Neanderthal gene that is present in some modern humans causes muscle cells to respond more strongly to growth hormone. Experiments in vitro found a 40% increase in muscle mass. Evaluation of 11 million people found those with the Neanderthal variant had slightly greater muscle mass.
Summary: https://news.ki.se/neanderthal-gene-variant-may-increase-muscle-mass-in-people-living-today-today
Original paper: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)00890-0
-
The two known Neandertal pelvises, both male, are more similar to modern female pelvises than modern male pelvises. The hip sockets in modern male pelvises are set more forward, which is thought to be an adaptation for long-distance walking. This change would require a longer birth canal if it were present in women.
Original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-59915-8
-
#Neandertals used #rhinoceros #teeth as #tools
Marks in #fossil rhino teeth found in caves in #France and #Spain suggest they were once used as multipurpose, heavy-duty tools. A new study reveals that these ancient hominids used the massive molars for shaping stone tools and processing all sorts of materials, such as vegetable fibers or hides.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rhino-teeth-neandertal-tool
https://archive.ph/v9EHh -
#Neandertals made #antibacterial ointment, but may not have known it
Yet another case of casting doubt on the intelligence and observational powers of our ancestors.
Could you have figured out how to make birch Tar or oil, or even started the fire needed to extract it.
If they had been as stupid and ignorant as modern man we would have died out many years ago.
-
#Neandertals made #antibacterial ointment, but may not have known it
Neandertals burned birch bark to create a tar that they used to attach stones to weapons and other tools. In modern human cultures, birch tar is used medicinally. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic incorporate it into wound dressings, and the Mi’kmaq, or L’nuk, peoples in Canada use birch bark extract to fight skin infections. These products kill bacteria that cause staph & MRSA.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/neandertals-antibacterial-birch-tar
https://archive.ph/Jh4hO -
#Neandertals mastered #fire-making tools 400,000 years ago, near a water hole on grasslands bordering a forest in what is now southern #England, a group of Neandertals struck chunks of iron pyrite against flint to create sparks, lighting campfires on multiple occasions. A new analysis of those remnants — including fire-striking tools and geochemical traces of the burns — reveals the oldest clear evidence of archaic humans intentionally making fire.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/neandertal-fire-making-tools-flint-iron
https://archive.ph/DwCAO -
“Although we don’t yet know whether the Neandertal DNA associated with autism is also linked to intelligence, savantism or general creativity, we are slowly connecting the dots. If such a relation exists, it suggests that intermixing with Neandertals has affected multiple aspects of brain evolution in our species.”
#isogg #dna #epigenetics #neandertals #autism #geneadons
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-neandertal-dna-may-affect-the-way-we-think/
