4 ms·
Well they hard larger brains, more muscle mass, larger sinuses which aid in breathing in cold weather and possibly smell, denser bone structure, and a number of
by timschmidt 1y ago
Well they hard larger brains, more muscle mass, larger sinuses which aid in breathing in cold weather and possibly smell, denser bone structure, and a number of other possible advantages.
It has been proposed that the advantage we wield which led to out-competing / interbreeding with them may have been a superior ability to starve - i.e. use fewer calories - during periods like the last ice age.
- b800h 1y ago"Neanderthals appear to have matured faster physically but had a slower reproductive tempo overall, with longer spacing between births. That suggests fewer offspring over a female's reproductive lifetime." So my theory is that they could well have been more sophisticated in a lot of ways, but were just outbred.
- timschmidt 1y agoSeems like that would go right along with using fewer calories. Very interesting.
- amarait 1y agoIve also read some out of wack theories like some conditions like autism could come from them since its more prevalent on white people. This would explain that a group that engages more socially creating bonds and more complex societal tribes in number would outnumber and extinguish these weird less verbal humans
- timschmidt 1y agoThere are some relevant studies which suggest a connection for at least some autism spectrum folks: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-024-02593-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-024-02593-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-06440-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-06440-4 It's far from conclusive, not representative of the majority of folks with autism diagnoses, and needs more replication and investigation. But it could be a thing. Speaking as a spectrum-y red-haired middle-european.