Inbreeding in Neanderthals

[Longbowman]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dna-from-a-50000-year-old-toe-shows-neanderthals-were-highly-inbred-9014103.

This is a recent news story in England that has appeared in most papers. Essentially, Neanderthals - or some Neanderthals - were seriously inbred, though considering what we already knew about them (small groups of c. ~10-12 individuals, incredibly low population density, enmity between different bands of Neanderthals as represented by war and even cannibalism) this isn't surprising at all. Perhaps it contributed to their fall and absorption by Sapiens?

[morski]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dna-from-a-50000-year-old-toe-shows-neanderthals-were-highly-inbred-9014103.

This is a recent news story in England that has appeared in most papers. Essentially, Neanderthals - or some Neanderthals - were seriously inbred, though considering what we already knew about them (small groups of c. ~10-12 individuals, incredibly low population density, enmity between different bands of Neanderthals as represented by war and even cannibalism) this isn't surprising at all. Perhaps it contributed to their fall and absorption by Sapiens?

The burden of the pure race...

[Longbowman]

The burden of the pure race...

These people were some of our ancestors. It's possible the fact they 'kept it in the family' still affects us in the form of homozygous mutations still extant in Eurasian populations.

Let's not tell the Nihilist though :rolleyes:

[Longbowman]

Further articles and sources:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131218133658.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/neanderthal-womans-dna-ancient-inbreeding-human_n_4472387.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2525961/Neanderthal-DNA-dating-50-000-years-reveals-ancestors-highly-INBRED.html
http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/12/18/2331226/genome-of-neandertals-reveals-inbreeding
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/12/18/Neanderthal-Fossil-Indicates-Incest-Was-Common