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The distinction between Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens sapiens is more or less a legacy from a time where we didn't know how fuzzy the definition of

The distinction between Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens sapiens is more or less a legacy from a time where we didn't know how fuzzy the definition of 'species' was. For all intents and purposes all three are the same species of full-fledged humans and there's scant evidence humans from either denomination would even treat each other differently.

rossdavidh 6y ago
Well there are plenty of other cases where we are completely comfortable calling them distinct species, even though we know they can interbreed. The term "species" is certainly fuzzier than we were taught in school in the 70's, but it's not as if biologists have stopped using the concept.
- catalogia 6y ago
  Ring species are an interesting case to consider, in which A and B can interbreed, and B and C can interbreed, but A and C cannot. Gene transfer between A and C remains possible, but indirect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_species https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_species
Acrobatic_Road 6y ago
They were different species and any argument to the contrary rests on adherence to a rigid definition of species not even accepted by all biologists, let alone anthropologists. >there's scant evidence humans from either denomination would even treat each other differently. Are we supposed to believe it was a big egalitarian paradise?
- throwaway4666 6y ago
  >They were different species and any argument to the contrary rests on adherence to a rigid definition of species not even accepted by all biologists, let alone anthropologists. There is no single definition of species. People who study bacteria have their own, so do people who study plants, birds, insects, and so on. Sure, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens sapiens, who coexisted and interbred in the same ecosystems, are different species. Whatever that means. >Are we supposed to believe it was a big egalitarian paradise? Lol what does that have to do with what I said?
thaumasiotes 6y ago
> The distinction between Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens sapiens is more or less a legacy from a time where we didn't know how fuzzy the definition of 'species' was. Not at all; that time ended long before the distinction was drawn. In the case of Denisovans, hundreds of years before.

rossdavidh 6y ago

Well there are plenty of other cases where we are completely comfortable calling them distinct species, even though we know they can interbreed. The term "species" is certainly fuzzier than we were taught in school in the 70's, but it's not as if biologists have stopped using the concept.

catalogia 6y ago
Ring species are an interesting case to consider, in which A and B can interbreed, and B and C can interbreed, but A and C cannot. Gene transfer between A and C remains possible, but indirect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_species https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_species

Acrobatic_Road 6y ago

They were different species and any argument to the contrary rests on adherence to a rigid definition of species not even accepted by all biologists, let alone anthropologists. >there's scant evidence humans from either denomination would even treat each other differently. Are we supposed to believe it was a big egalitarian paradise?

throwaway4666 6y ago
>They were different species and any argument to the contrary rests on adherence to a rigid definition of species not even accepted by all biologists, let alone anthropologists. There is no single definition of species. People who study bacteria have their own, so do people who study plants, birds, insects, and so on. Sure, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens sapiens, who coexisted and interbred in the same ecosystems, are different species. Whatever that means. >Are we supposed to believe it was a big egalitarian paradise? Lol what does that have to do with what I said?

thaumasiotes 6y ago

> The distinction between Neanderthals, Denisovans and Homo sapiens sapiens is more or less a legacy from a time where we didn't know how fuzzy the definition of 'species' was. Not at all; that time ended long before the distinction was drawn. In the case of Denisovans, hundreds of years before.