if the neanderthals lived today would we see them as just the smartest great ape or could they be taught to speak and live like normal people
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Neanderthals are our closest relatives, closer even than chimps. They last shared a common ancestor with us about 500,000 years ago. That means when they evolved in Europe, modern Africans were very much living like the common ancestor of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. That means, our direct ancestor were still Homo erectus-like when Neanderthals evolved. They had bigger brains than Homo erectus, and their brains were comparable in size to Homo sapiens. They were anything but beasts.
However, there is no incontrovertible evidence that Neanderthals had the same mutation in the FOXP2 gene that is characteristic of all living populations of Homo sapiens. There is one recently published paper that suggests they do have the same mutations, but the data in that paper has been reviewed, and skeptics suggest that the data is consistent with contamination by living Europeans. Modern humans that have a defective copy of the human FOXP2 gene experience tremendous difficulties with speech. Therefore it would appear that the FOXP2 evolved first within Homo sapiens, and therefore Neanderthals probably would not be able to learn any spoken human languages. They may be able to learn a written language and perhaps some other skills that we have mastered, but their stone tools indicate that they were not as advanced in toolmaking as stone age Homo sapiens.
Nevertheless, the fossil record and archaeological finds suggest that the Neanderthals were able to prevent Homo sapiens from entering Europe for approximately 10,000-20,000 years. The first human beings that migrated out of Africa about 60,000 years ago went to Australia, instead of Europe. Subsequent migrations of humans out of Africa about 40,000 years ago ended up in China, the Middle East and southeast Asia, but they were unable to enter Europe. The reason may be the superior strength of the Neanderthals, who appeared to have engaged in close combat with their prey, using stone age weaponry, whereas humans would simply shoot arrows and throw spears at our prey from a distance. Their superior strength probably prevented us from invading their territory. There is now evidence that a super volcano erupted in Europe about 30,000 years ago, about the same time that Cro-Magnon man, or anatomically modern humans, were found in European Caves. At about the same time, Neanderthals became extinct. If the volcanism theory is correct, then it could explain why humans were finally able to enter Europe after being held back for those thousands of years. Another possibility is that modern humans were not as cold adapted as were the Neanderthals, and we needed thousands of years adapting ourselves on the Central Asian Steppes before we were able to invade Europe, which was then in the middle of the ice age. Perhaps it was a combination of these two reasons.
Other than a possible inability to speak, they were about as close to modern humans as any other species that have ever lived. They may not have red hair, as the possibly contaminated data suggests, but they do have the same shorter limbs and stocky build that modern Europeans have, due to adaptation to cold weather. Lastly if we can teach a chimp to drink alcohol, smoke cigars, and wear clothes, we can certainly teach Neanderthals to do the same.
However, there is no incontrovertible evidence that Neanderthals had the same mutation in the FOXP2 gene that is characteristic of all living populations of Homo sapiens. There is one recently published paper that suggests they do have the same mutations, but the data in that paper has been reviewed, and skeptics suggest that the data is consistent with contamination by living Europeans. Modern humans that have a defective copy of the human FOXP2 gene experience tremendous difficulties with speech. Therefore it would appear that the FOXP2 evolved first within Homo sapiens, and therefore Neanderthals probably would not be able to learn any spoken human languages. They may be able to learn a written language and perhaps some other skills that we have mastered, but their stone tools indicate that they were not as advanced in toolmaking as stone age Homo sapiens.
Nevertheless, the fossil record and archaeological finds suggest that the Neanderthals were able to prevent Homo sapiens from entering Europe for approximately 10,000-20,000 years. The first human beings that migrated out of Africa about 60,000 years ago went to Australia, instead of Europe. Subsequent migrations of humans out of Africa about 40,000 years ago ended up in China, the Middle East and southeast Asia, but they were unable to enter Europe. The reason may be the superior strength of the Neanderthals, who appeared to have engaged in close combat with their prey, using stone age weaponry, whereas humans would simply shoot arrows and throw spears at our prey from a distance. Their superior strength probably prevented us from invading their territory. There is now evidence that a super volcano erupted in Europe about 30,000 years ago, about the same time that Cro-Magnon man, or anatomically modern humans, were found in European Caves. At about the same time, Neanderthals became extinct. If the volcanism theory is correct, then it could explain why humans were finally able to enter Europe after being held back for those thousands of years. Another possibility is that modern humans were not as cold adapted as were the Neanderthals, and we needed thousands of years adapting ourselves on the Central Asian Steppes before we were able to invade Europe, which was then in the middle of the ice age. Perhaps it was a combination of these two reasons.
Other than a possible inability to speak, they were about as close to modern humans as any other species that have ever lived. They may not have red hair, as the possibly contaminated data suggests, but they do have the same shorter limbs and stocky build that modern Europeans have, due to adaptation to cold weather. Lastly if we can teach a chimp to drink alcohol, smoke cigars, and wear clothes, we can certainly teach Neanderthals to do the same.
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Neanderthals were animals just like we were, and if they were alive today then they would likely be treated more like modern Humans than like normal animals, but not exactly the same as us.