Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

By Patricia Reaney

A reconstruction compares the profile of a modern human child at left with that of a Neanderthal child at right, based on computerized tomography

 
LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Computer graphics of Neanderthals based on ancient fossils show they were very different from early humans and did not mix with them, Swiss scientists said on Wednesday.

The virtual reality images of reconstructed Neanderthal skulls have distinctive features established very early in childhood which did not develop gradually through life, suggesting they co-existed but did not breed with each other.

"This is a strong argument for early separation on the species level, which means they had isolated populations. There might have been some accidental inbreeding but certainly not a big exchange of genes," said Christoph Zollikofer, a neurobiolgist at the University of Zurich.

Zollikofer and Marcia Ponce de Leon, computer scientist and anthropologist at the university, created virtual reality models of Neanderthal skulls from 16 fossils of the creatures who lived in Europe, North Africa and Asia from 125,000-40,000 years ago.

They wanted to compare their development from childhood to that of early and modern humans.

They found that the distinctive features of the Neanderthal skull and face were there by the age of two years.

"We wanted to find out the basic development in Neanderthals in comparison to humans. It was a surprise to find how homogeneous these species behaved during development," Zollikofer added in a telephone interview.

The research, reported in the science journal Nature, supports earlier genetic evidence showing Neanderthals are too distant genetically to have been an ancestor of modern humans.

"We think that together with the genetic data...it is quite reasonable to think that these are really two different species separated at least half a million years ago," said Zollikofer.

To construct the virtual reality images the scientists used computer tomography of the Neanderthal fossils to get three dimensional data and customised computer software to create the virtual reality images.

"We now have a dynamic approach to the morphology (the study of forms). We can say something about how an extinct species developed from birth to adulthood," Zollikofer added.

13:35 08-01-01

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A reconstruction compares the profile of a modern human child at left with that of a Neanderthal child at right, based on computerized tomography