6 ms·

Neanderthal microbes reveal surprises about what they ate

40 points by sethbannon 10y ago

skj 10y ago
How can a microbe express surprise?
- magic_beans 10y ago
  The microbes are not expressing surprise (the emotion) but revealing surprises (surprise-inducing noun plural).
  - skj 10y ago
    yes, that's the joke.
redwood 10y ago
Regarding the mushrooms both were found to have been eating, I am reminded of Terence McKenna's "stoned ape" theory http://www.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/McKenna/Evolution/theory.html http://www.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/McKenna/Evolution/theory.htm...
slitaz 10y ago
Any source of the actual article?
- abrowne 10y ago
  The Guardian article¹ links to Nature². 1: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/08/neanderthal-dental-tartar-reveals-plant-based-diet-and-drugs https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/08/neanderthal-... 2:http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature21674 http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature21674
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
ronnier 10y ago
> the Belgian individuals seemed to have dramatically different diets than their Spanish contemporaries > The Belgian individuals ... woolly rhinoceros, sheep and edible mushrooms > the Spanish Neanderthals ... didn't seem to be eating any meat. Their teeth instead bore traces of mushrooms, pine nuts and forest mos
visarga 10y ago
> there is a growing body of evidence that they were far more advanced than modern humans give them credit for. Recent studies revealed that they wore jewelry, created art and architecture, made complex tools and developed sophisticated big-game hunting strategies. All this suggests that they were capable of symbolic thought and social coordination, intellectual abilities that were once considered exclusively human Any chance of recreating Neanderthals from DNA a la Jurassic Park? We could find out how advanced they were - the only species comparable to humans as of yet.
- dragandj 10y ago
  Not only they are humans (homo neanderthalensis vs homo sapiens, but both homo) but there are traces of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans, since there was interbreading among them. So, no wonder they are comparable to us, since they are not that much different than us on evolutionary timescale.
- kzrdude 10y ago
  Can't revive their culture and customs (burials and other rites) from DNA alone though. Language? Maybe it could answer definitely how language capable they were though.
- woliveirajr 10y ago
  > Today, all humans except people from Africa carry a small fraction of Neanderthal DNA in their genes. > “They haven't gone extinct, really,” Dobney said. “They’re still alive in us.” But I couldn't find out how much "neanderthal" we are.

40 points by sethbannon 10y ago

skj 10y ago

How can a microbe express surprise?

magic_beans 10y ago
The microbes are not expressing surprise (the emotion) but revealing surprises (surprise-inducing noun plural).
- skj 10y ago
  yes, that's the joke.

redwood 10y ago

Regarding the mushrooms both were found to have been eating, I am reminded of Terence McKenna's "stoned ape" theory http://www.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/McKenna/Evolution/theory.html http://www.lycaeum.org/~sputnik/McKenna/Evolution/theory.htm...

slitaz 10y ago

Any source of the actual article?

abrowne 10y ago
The Guardian article¹ links to Nature². 1: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/08/neanderthal-dental-tartar-reveals-plant-based-diet-and-drugs https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/mar/08/neanderthal-... 2:http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature21674 http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature21674
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

ronnier 10y ago

> the Belgian individuals seemed to have dramatically different diets than their Spanish contemporaries > The Belgian individuals ... woolly rhinoceros, sheep and edible mushrooms > the Spanish Neanderthals ... didn't seem to be eating any meat. Their teeth instead bore traces of mushrooms, pine nuts and forest mos

visarga 10y ago

> there is a growing body of evidence that they were far more advanced than modern humans give them credit for. Recent studies revealed that they wore jewelry, created art and architecture, made complex tools and developed sophisticated big-game hunting strategies. All this suggests that they were capable of symbolic thought and social coordination, intellectual abilities that were once considered exclusively human Any chance of recreating Neanderthals from DNA a la Jurassic Park? We could find out how advanced they were - the only species comparable to humans as of yet.

dragandj 10y ago
Not only they are humans (homo neanderthalensis vs homo sapiens, but both homo) but there are traces of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans, since there was interbreading among them. So, no wonder they are comparable to us, since they are not that much different than us on evolutionary timescale.
kzrdude 10y ago
Can't revive their culture and customs (burials and other rites) from DNA alone though. Language? Maybe it could answer definitely how language capable they were though.
woliveirajr 10y ago
> Today, all humans except people from Africa carry a small fraction of Neanderthal DNA in their genes. > “They haven't gone extinct, really,” Dobney said. “They’re still alive in us.” But I couldn't find out how much "neanderthal" we are.