Which species would you argue is more morphologically derived modern sapiens or H neanderthalensis?

Which species would you argue is more morphologically derived modern sapiens or H neanderthalensis?

Even though these figures could shift modestly through variation in trait selection and/or as a result of a more complete earlier Pleistocene Homo fossil record, it is apparent that modern humans are morphologically more derived than the Neandertals.

What is the evolutionary relationship between modern humans and Neanderthals?

Modern humans, or Homo sapiens, and Neanderthals shared a common ancestor roughly half a million years ago. They then split and evolved in parallel: humans in Africa, and Neanderthals on the Eurasian continent. When humans finally ventured to Eurasia, they had sex with Neanderthals, swapping DNA around.

What are the differences between modern humans and Neanderthals?

Neanderthals had a long, low skull (compared to the more globular skull of modern humans) with a characteristic prominent brow ridge above their eyes. Their face was also distinctive. The modern human has a more rounded skull and lacks the prominent brow ridge present in the Neanderthal.

How do we know that Denisovans are more closely related to Neanderthals than modern humans?

However, according to the nuclear DNA (nDNA) of Denisova 3—which had an unusual degree of DNA preservation with only low-level contamination—Denisovans and Neanderthals were more closely related to each other than they were to modern humans.

Could humans mate with Neanderthals?

It is also possible that while interbreeding between Neanderthal males and human females could have produced fertile offspring, interbreeding between Neanderthal females and modern human males might not have produced fertile offspring, which would mean that the Neanderthal mtDNA could not be passed down.

Did sapiens mate with Neanderthals?

And it’s further evidence of mating between the species. Research using the mitochondrial DNA of specimens found in Germany suggested that Homo sapiens were mating with Neanderthals more than 220,000 years ago—much earlier than thought. It is thought that Homo sapiens and Denisovans may also have bred with each other.

Is there genetic evidence that together humans and Neanderthals had successful offspring?

No evidence of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA has been found in modern humans. This suggests that successful Neanderthal admixture happened in pairings with Neanderthal males and modern human females.

What did Neanderthals evolve from?

Fossil evidence suggests that a Neanderthal ancestor may have traveled out of Africa into Europe and Asia. There, the Neanderthal ancestor evolved into Homo neanderthalensis some 400,000 to 500,000 years ago. The human ancestor remained in Africa, evolving into our own species—Homo sapiens.

Do modern humans have Denisovan genes?

Denisovan-derived ancestry is largely absent from modern populations in Africa and Western Eurasia. The highest rates, by far, of Denisovan admixture have been found in Oceanian and some Southeast Asian populations, with an estimated 4–6\% of the genome of modern Melanesians being derived from Denisovans.

What race has the most Denisovan DNA?

Genetic evidence now shows that a Philippine Negrito ethnic group has inherited the most Denisovan ancestry of all. Indigenous people known as the Ayta Magbukon get around 5 percent of their DNA from Denisovans, a new study finds.

Is there a link between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis?

Homo heidelbergensis, a species that existed from 200,000 to 700,000 years ago, is a popular candidate. It appears that the African family tree of this species leads to Homo sapiens while a European branch leads to Homo neanderthalensis and the Denisovans. More ancient DNA could help provide a clearer picture, but finding it is no sure bet.

Why do different human populations have different alleles?

Alleles occur at different frequencies in different human populations. Populations that are more geographically and ancestrally remote tend to differ more. The differences between populations represent a small proportion of overall human genetic variation.

How common are human genetic variations between individuals?

The human genetic variations found to be very rare between individuals but it is a lot more common within population (more than 5\%). The number of variants change depend on how closely related the populations are. The more closely related the population the higher the percentage of variations.

What causes neutral differences in genetic variation between populations?

Serial founder effects and past small population size (increasing the likelihood of genetic drift) may have had an important influence in neutral differences between populations. The second main cause of genetic variation is due to the high degree of neutrality of most mutations.