Do You Have Neanderthal DNA?

Hi ya! How's it going today? I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Let your nose lead you towards that pot full of coffee on the burner over there next to the display of freshly baked muffins. Say… I was reading, as I am wont to do, about our origins. We've all heard of Neanderthals. In fact some of us have had bosses who were a strong indication that that other human species survived. Whether they were separate human species or a sub species of Homo sapiens is a matter of some debate. What we do know is that they were a species of the human genus that lived in Europe and western Asia from about 130,000 to 30,000 BC.

Characterized by prominent brow ridges and sloping foreheads, Neanderthals also had shorter legs and broader shoulders. We might think of them as cavemen - though not the Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble type. There are different theories as to why they died out. One theory says we may have killed them off, being the warlike creatures we are. Another theory says that we, Homo sapiens, may have just outnumbered them and, through interbreeding, absorbed and assimilated them somewhere around the last ice age. The answer is possibly a combination of the two.

Is it possible that some Neanderthals actually survived to present day? Every culture seems to have stories of creatures living in remote areas and only seen by chance… a la Sasquatch, Yeti, etc.

According to recent genetic analyses, modern Eurasians have 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal DNA in their genome. Aha! You see… there was interbreeding which tends to fall in favour of the interbreeding theory. Oh, I can see some handsome Homo sapien falling head over heels over some hairy, well-endowed young Neanderthal princess – especially if he'd been alone in his cave too long. But hey…it does seem to indicate that the two species did get together. Letting nature take its course, interbreeding would have take place.

“Don't hit me on the head with that club again, Ur, it's giving me a headache!”

Evidence suggests that there would have been far fewer Neanderthals than Homo sapiens, so, unless Neanderthals kept strictly to themselves, we likely just bred them out of existence. So that would mean that if you and I are of European or Asian stock, a small percentage of our DNA would be Neanderthal. We may even have retained some of their physical traits. See! I knew it! That Neanderthal I worked for years ago…it was just his DNA taking its rightful place in his character…where the N stands for Neanderthal!

See ya!

Bob