Percentage of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans

[Cheapjack]

Has anyone read the report that states that we all have 1-6% neanderthal DNA in us?

I've been thinking, if you look at the late actor Jack Palance, he is very big-boned and stocky, with big hips, and he seems to have a slight brow ridge. Is it possible that is his Neanderthal DNA coming into play?

He reminds me very much, in stature and bearing, of my grandfather and great uncles. My grandfather's skull was so thick, my grandmother once bounced a plate off it, without fracture. I've often wondered if they had more neanderthal DNA. I've emailed the genome project about it, but not received an answer.

 

[FordSVT]

What report?

 

[scotpens]

No, I haven't read the report you mention, but there have been a lot of famous people with Neanderthal-like features: Pablo Picasso, Lee Marvin, and Anthony Quinn, to name a few.

Of course, if today's human population carries some Neanderthal DNA, that means Neanderthals must have interbred with modern or Cro-Magnon man, rather than simply dying out and being succeeded by the more adaptable Cro-Magnons. From what I've read, this theory is not universally accepted by paleoanthropologists.

 

[JonathonWally]

This would explain so much about me.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I'm trying to find a link, but the report was all over the news just a couple weeks ago.

EDIT: Here's one.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/09/weekinreview/0509-considered-graphic.html

1 percent to 4 percent of the genome of non-Africans today is derived from Neanderthals, say scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Look for people without chins. Neanderthals were chinless as well as short.

Why, that weak-chinned, 5" tall neighbour of yours might be a secret Neanderthal...

 

[John Picard]

No, I haven't read the report you mention, but there have been a lot of famous people with Neanderthal-like features: Pablo Picasso, Lee Marvin, and Anthony Quinn, to name a few.

Of course, if today's human population carries some Neanderthal DNA, that means Neanderthals must have interbred with modern or Cro-Magnon man, rather than simply dying out and being succeeded by the more adaptable Cro-Magnons. From what I've read, this theory is not universally accepted by paleoanthropologists.

I believe the theory that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens interbred has been around for quite some time.

At my high school, we had a guy who was a spitting image of Cro Magnon man in our science texts. Oh, the shit everyone gave him, yet it makes one thing.

 

[scotpens]

I believe the theory that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens interbred has been around for quite some time.

If interbreeding between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons produced healthy, fertile offspring, then, by definition, Neanderthals and modern man are the same species. Neanderthals would then be a subspecies or form, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.

Look for people without chins. Neanderthals were chinless as well as short.

So this chick might be a Neanderthal?

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

I'm fairly certain that's a cartoon.

I saw the mock-ups in a National Geographic from a few years ago. The female looked more like a squat, like a short, tough hillybilly woman who could kick your ass and breast feed two babies at the same time.

 

[EyalM]

I'm trying to find a link, but the report was all over the news just a couple weeks ago.

EDIT: Here's one.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/09/weekinreview/0509-considered-graphic.html

1 percent to 4 percent of the genome of non-Africans today is derived from Neanderthals, say scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany

Isn't is also true that we share 96% of our genome with chimpanzees? If so, than one would think that the difference between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons would be a lot smaller than 4%, or even 1%.