3 ms·

I thought that there were sizable modern populations with no Neanderthal DNA which would suggest that they are not ancestors of modern humans: https://en.wikip

• eponeponepon 9y ago
  There are, but not a great many, and that doesn't by any stretch countermand the gp's point.
  • marchenko 9y ago
    Sub-Saharan Africa is almost entirely free of Neanderthal DNA except for some groups who acquired a bit through introgression from Eurasian modern humans. Various sources of Archaic admixture have been observed or postulated for different modern human groups; determinations about their similarity to modern humans are made in broader grounds. As a practical matter, taxonomic distinctions between different hominid species/subspecies are generally retained until sufficient evidence accumulates to justify dissolving the boundaries. The idea that archaic groups like Neanderthals were very cognitively sophisticated has been around for a long time; the question is whether it is more informative to maintain them as different taxa.
    • deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    • eponeponepon 9y ago
      Absolutely. I have to admit I don't really understand why neanderthalensis is separate from sapiens - H. sapiens sapiens is a widespread enough classification, so why not H. sapiens neanderthalensis?