4 ms·

I once watched a documentary where it was mentioned that homo sapiens co-existend with around 20 archaic human forms (Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis ...etc) ,

I once watched a documentary where it was mentioned that homo sapiens co-existend with around 20 archaic human forms (Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis ...etc) , of which only homo sapiens survived and thrived. But this is a subject that always scared me especially with nowadays' politics.

itronitron 3y ago
[flagged]
qdw 3y ago
During the period for which we have evidence, Neanderthals seem to have had smaller populations than Homo sapiens, and they reproduced more slowly (longer gestation plus longer interval between pregnancies). So it may be that they went extinct for those reasons.
- manishsharan 3y ago
  That may be so .. but I recall reading about Neanderthals' cave drawing .. they depicted Homo sapiens as frightening creatures.
  - huytersd 3y ago
    I can’t find anything about neanderthal cave art that represented Homo sapiens.
- huytersd 3y ago
  They also had a lower brain to body ratio so weren't as intelligent.
  - namlem 3y ago
    Their ratio was about the same as homo sapiens. It's not clear that they were less intelligent, they seem to have had a similar degree of intelligence based on findings from caves in Spain.
    - huytersd 3y ago
      About the same but significantly lower. Neanderthal cave art is basically scribbles and scratches compared to say Altamira.
  - bmer 3y ago
    Why is brain:body ratio correlated with intelligence?
    - huytersd 3y ago
      It’s pretty much the one metric that holds true across all animal species. Read about EQ (encephalization quotient)
eBombzor 3y ago
What's so scary about it
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- pfannkuchen 3y ago
  If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that the species line is somewhat subjective. If you slide broader than today’s definition then we had a lot of human genocide in our collective past. If you slide narrower than today’s definition then we could end up with a lot of human genocide (by today’s definition) in our collective future. Anything to do with genocide is rather scary.

itronitron 3y ago

[flagged]

qdw 3y ago

During the period for which we have evidence, Neanderthals seem to have had smaller populations than Homo sapiens, and they reproduced more slowly (longer gestation plus longer interval between pregnancies). So it may be that they went extinct for those reasons.

manishsharan 3y ago
That may be so .. but I recall reading about Neanderthals' cave drawing .. they depicted Homo sapiens as frightening creatures.
- huytersd 3y ago
  I can’t find anything about neanderthal cave art that represented Homo sapiens.
huytersd 3y ago
They also had a lower brain to body ratio so weren't as intelligent.
- namlem 3y ago
  Their ratio was about the same as homo sapiens. It's not clear that they were less intelligent, they seem to have had a similar degree of intelligence based on findings from caves in Spain.
  - huytersd 3y ago
    About the same but significantly lower. Neanderthal cave art is basically scribbles and scratches compared to say Altamira.
- bmer 3y ago
  Why is brain:body ratio correlated with intelligence?
  - huytersd 3y ago
    It’s pretty much the one metric that holds true across all animal species. Read about EQ (encephalization quotient)

eBombzor 3y ago

What's so scary about it

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
pfannkuchen 3y ago
If I were to hazard a guess, it would be that the species line is somewhat subjective. If you slide broader than today’s definition then we had a lot of human genocide in our collective past. If you slide narrower than today’s definition then we could end up with a lot of human genocide (by today’s definition) in our collective future. Anything to do with genocide is rather scary.