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DemonKia -> RE: This explains a great deal... (10/26/2009 12:15:33 PM)
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FR, after amused read thru
Okay, the $64,000 question (carbon-dating myself much?) is, cross-species fertility?
I'm most familiar with mules & hinnies, which are the sterile offspring of horses mated with donkeys, a similar case.
In the case of mules & hinnies the mismatch between the number of chromosomes in horse DNA (64) & donkey DNA (62) does not prevent cross-species fertility, but:
Mules and Hinnies have 63 chromosomes that are a mixture of one from each parent. The different structure and number usually prevents the chromosomes from pairing up properly and creating successful embryos.
So, one of the big questions for a long time in Neanderthal-related anthro is, did they contribute genes to the modern human lineage thru cross-breeding, or not? & which question is what the article is referencing . . . . .
For me, then, the most pertinent question is where did Neanderthals fit onto the continuum of libidinous behaviors? In my head that scale for primates has our ribald cousins, the bonobos (chimps) at the extreme-orgy end, & the rather more restrained gorillas on the other, more staid side . . .. . . The common chimp is over on the more sexualized end of things with us humans, & I wonder where Neanderthals would fit? That insight would be relevant to the question of cross-breeding possibilities . . . . ..
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