Neanderthal family. Image by Randii Oliver via Wikimedia Commons [public domain]
When you review all the species and sub species there are a lot. The simplification that there was monkey and than there was chimp and than there was Neanderthal and than there was humans is a simplification of an evolutionary line that appears with closer scrutiny to be, well a simplification. As more discoveries are made, the branches that fell off the tree of life, (extinction) going from single cell to full out, become more apparent. How many of those could have been an earlier form of Homo sapiens? Ones that didn’t have the physically or internally to survive in that world at that time?
To begin, some science, umm, the Neanderthal mitochondrial genome sequence with Denisovan sequence is significant in as much as is a possible mixing with different archaic human groups. What those archaic human groups could have evolved from or at what century is something to be discovered. We cannot rely that bones that old but can or will be found but there is always a possibility.
The hypothesis begins, which came first, an archaic human group alongside a Neanderthal/Denisovan group, or one ‘human group’ jumped (so to speak) in evolution in a specific area? Finding Neanderthal trace genetic in ‘modern’ humans is simply the starting point to go backwards in tracing where it happened.
Evolution does allow for a sudden leap in evolving. Not in the blink of an eye but in year and decades not only in centuries. Take the Coywolf for example with a hybridization that span decades not centuries and the environment for the evolution was created by people changing the western wolf/eastern coyote environment in this case. Perhaps, back in those past centuries, the environment was changed by natural disasters.
Yet we cannot discount that Neanderthal and Denisovan doesn’t have any homo sapiens DNA which would make that the oldest DNA of homo sapiens though mixed. Mixed DNA is one of the evolutionary aspects that we cannot dismiss quite so easily. Nor can we discount that an archaic group, not yet found, but possible, didn’t also exist.
I think we would need a super computer to input all the possibilities to get possible outcomes for such complex mammals as these three represent and see what else pops out especially if we added the DNA of the other species that most closely resembles human, the
Actually, the mutations/genetics that those could represent could also find or come close to finding, why people get sick yet survive severe illness Some people are more resistant for example the Bubonic Plague Black Plague or Black Death and now Ebola. Is there something in their DNA that they acquired through attribution from previous ancestral genealogy? Perhaps,
those with Neanderthal/Denisovan DNA fragments are more likely to be survive or vice versa. Lots of questions when it comes to DNA both current and in past history.
Actually, the mutations/genetics that those could represent could also find or come close to finding, why people get sick yet survive severe illness Some people are more resistant for example the Black Plague and now Ebola. Is there something in their DNA that they acquired through attribution from previous ancestral genealogy?
For some classifications, there are:
The Superfamily of Huminoidea includes: 1) Hylobatcae 2)Pongidae 3) Unknown 4) Hominidae
The Genus of Hylobatdae is Hylobates and Symphlangus. Common names Gibbon and Siamang
The Genus Pongidae is Pongo, Pan and Gorilla. Common names Orangutan, Chimpanzee and Gorilla
The Genus of unknown is the Known Fossils: Ramapithecus, (Kenyapithecus) (Graecopithecus) (Rudapithecus) and Australophithecus
The Genus of Homindae is Homo. Common name Humans. Known fossils are Home erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens (mordern man)
Than you get to the tarsiers, monkeys and apes
Order Primates Suborder Strepsirrhini: non-tarsier prosimians
Suborder Haplorhini: tarsiers, monkeys and apes Infraorder Tarsiiformes
Infraorder Simiiformes Parvorder Platyrrhini: New World monkeys Family Callitrichidae: marmosets and tamarins
Family Cebidae: capuchins and squirrel monkeys
Family Aotidae: night or owl monkeys (douroucoulis)
Family Pitheciidae: titis, sakis and uakaris
Family Atelidae: howler, spider and woolly monkeys
Parvorder Catarrhini Superfamily Cercopithecoidea Family Cercopithecidae: Old World monkeys
Superfamily Hominoidea Family Hylobatidae: gibbons
Family Hominidae: great apes, including humans
Note the *including humans.
More and more, I am following a line of thinking that hybridization specifically nucleic acid hybridization plus some others leads to a piece of the puzzle ie that hybridization are the links in which reside the survival of species. Yet, at the same
time alter by either increasing or decreasing physical resistance or ability for survival.
Monkeys, rats and bats carry the ebola virus though so far I haven’t found any images that show them presenting
with the outward indications of the virus.
The Bubonic Plague, ie Black Plague or Black Death was thought to be from fleas on rats. Specifically the in the Asia
outbreak the Oriental rat flea. more on that here:
Yet, people survived without modern medicine. Something in them resisted the disease. Something specific from
that had to be garnered from previous ancestors because viruses have been on earth approximately as long as cells have, 3.8 billion years.
Categories: Anthropology, Genetics, Science
World News Forum 
I like the photo’s but I’ve never been sure that they were true representations but ones that we envision using known possibilities. If you move them around, it is easier to see the added dimension of there being an archaic human group in the mix.
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Big mistake, didn’t check photo, removed but there are lots of images with keyword search Homo sapiens chart
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Not such a big deal. I hope you like this photo. We needed something for a featured image.Nothing like a pleasing image to spruce up a post.
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The reconstructions are pretty darned accurate. I had a funny thought this morning: Ice Age Africans may have been light skinned. But probably not. Odd that Neanderthals had broad, flat noses.
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I came across this explanation:
”When Homo sapiens left Africa and had to adapt to less sunny climates, there was a mutation in one of the genes responsible for regulating the synthesis of melanin, the MC1R gene, which involved a discoloration of the skin. This discoloration allowed for better absorption of vitamin D, necessary for growth, but it also increased the risk of developing skin cancer in adulthood. This mutation is most common among people from Mediterranean regions such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Israel, presenting in about 10-20% of the population.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140114091714.htm
Interesting and the timeline would be interesting to figure out also. Some popular figures in history might be a bit darker than some think they should have been….:)
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That is interesting. These types of phenomena are dramatic examples of Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. Advantageous traits give a competitive edge to individuals possessing such traits (genes). Conversely, when a genetic trait is neutral in terms of conferring a selective advantage, it is neither selected for nor against. Genetic drift will tend to randomly eliminate such traits. Thus, dark skin pigmentation traits, having no real benefit in some environments, are not affected by the forces of natural selection. Consequently, cave fish and arctic animals gain no competitive advantage from possessing dark skin pigmentations. (It should be noted, however, that animals living in polar environments do gain a selective advantage in lacking skin pigmentation, rendering them white. It provides them with camouflage, thereby increasing their chances of surviving to produce offspring and to pass on their traits.)
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