Is this why we outlived Neanderthals? Human children had prolonged support from their parents - while Neanderthal kids w

[Judi Lynn]

Is this why we outlived Neanderthals? Human children had prolonged support from their parents - while Neanderthal kids were left to fend for themselves, study claims

A study of teeth indicates humans provided prolonged childcare to offspring

This could also be one of the reasons why Neanderthals eventually went extinct

By XANTHA LEATHAM DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 11:00 EDT, 23 May 2024 | UPDATED: 11:00 EDT, 23 May 2024

We once lived among Neanderthals but around 40,000 years ago, they disappeared.

Reasons for their demise vary, but experts have suggested interbreeding, climate change and violent clashes with humans may be to blame.

Now a new study of teeth indicates that humans provided prolonged childcare to their offspring, while young Neanderthals may have gained earlier independence.

The team, from the University of Tubingen in Germany, suggest that these findings could reflect differences in childcare and other behavioural strategies between the two species.

They analysed the dental enamel of 423 Neanderthal teeth and 444 Upper Palaeolithic human teeth.

Horizontal grooves of thinner enamel in the teeth indicated early-life stress, which previous research has demonstrated can be linked to childhood stressors such as illness, infections, malnutrition, nutritional deficiencies and trauma.

More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13451939/Neanderthals-Human-children-prolonged-support.html

[Submariner]

1. Not feeding offspring has been a GOP trait for decades

if you’re in need of public assistance, and are non-white.

So the republican link to the knuckle dragging Neanderthals starving infants and toddlers is a little clearer now. Thanks science.

[3Hotdogs]

2. There is a sub-set of a political party that is composed, entirely of

Neanderthals.

[RAB910]

3. As long as MTG is alive Neanderthals have not official died out

[BComplex]

9. I know that everyone who's been reading this thread has thought that very same thing!!

[Lovie777]

4. The Neanderthal children probably could have survive............................

but alas from the readings I have read, the Neanderthals basically remained stagnant in their development.

[FSogol]

5. Then they must have been the conservatives of their times. Those kids should've pulled themselves with their bootstraps!

[mopinko]

6. grandmas. that's y.

menopause is an evolutionary anomaly. y it’s not more well understood that grandparents, and yes, gay ppl, r crucial to kin selection, i will never know. (tho i have a clue- male scientists)
the other species who have it, like whales, also live in ‘tribes’ based on kinship. they also have extended childhoods.
y dont these ppl just ask me. lol. or, ya know, hire more women.

i have a fave example of how this works-
what’s the 1st tool humans made? ask most ppl they’ll say- stone cutting tools.
they r wrong. there were planting sticks and baby carriers, but mostly those didnt survive. they way predate stone points.
then there’s the guys who were mystified by sticks w 30 notches on them.
also those who thought chubby female effigies were goddesses of fertility, instead of ancient porn.
sadly, i cd go on.
all i can say is thank ja for franz boaz who sent women out to study the great apes. goodall, fosey, boaz sent them.

[magicarpet]

7. Adolecent Neanderthals sound very similar to today's young fratboy Republican males.

Devoid of the benefits of human collaboration, joining together to benefit the commonwealth, or working in unison to strengthen a healthy and functional community.

Shallow and selfish to the detriment of all parties concerned and they haven't a clue the error of their ways.

Me,... me,... me,.. is their creed - but never us or we.

[hlthe2b]

8. Umm, Neanderthals ARE humans (early, though they many be). Who the hell wrote this?

Not to mention that anywhere from 1-2% of modern-day Europeans and Asians carry Neanderthal DNA. Are they LESS human?

sigh...

[BComplex]

10. I have read that...that modern day Europeans and Asians have been shown to carry DNA from

Neanderthals. I'd really love to see a study on the political predispositions of those who carry the Neanderthal DNA.

[wnylib]

12. Everyone except people from sub-Saharan Africa, has

around 2% to 4% Neanderthal DNA. Even people with roots in sub-Saharan Africa have some Neanderthal DNA if their parents or ancestors farther back had children with someone outside of that region.

So it's nearly everywhere.

[Warpy]

11. Human children largely skipped the carefree childhood stage

and were considered fully adult at puberty. Before then, they learned to hunt and gather from their elders.

Neanderthals matured earlier, but that's not the reason they went extinct. The problem was that they'd migrated to the eastern Mediterranean and northeast to western Siberia. When the Campanian Ignimbrite Event happened, they were in the area of major ashfall and climate disruption. The stragglers left weren't numerous enough to recreate a stable population, they'd already started to suffer the effects of inbreeding before the big volcano blew up.

ETA: the prolonged maturation of human children wasn't necessarily a good strategy when a group had their numbers depleted by disease, climate change, or just bad luck. You needed kids to mature a bit faster then to replace the adults who had been lost. Neanderthals would have had an advantage then.