Neanderthals Lived Fast, Died Young
Our slower development and longer lives could have given humans an evolutionary edge over Neanderthals.
Neanderthals reached full maturity faster than humans do today, suggests a new examination of teeth from 11 Neanderthal and early human fossils. The findings, detailed in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, portray Neanderthals as a live fast and die young species.
Our characteristically slow development and long childhood therefore appear to be recent and unique to Homo sapiens. These traits may have given our early modern human ancestors an evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals.
Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and her colleagues made the determination after using a high-tech method called synchrotron micro-computed tomography to virtually count growth lines in teeth. These lines, like rings in trees, reveal yearly growth progress....
Read entire article at Discovery News
Neanderthals reached full maturity faster than humans do today, suggests a new examination of teeth from 11 Neanderthal and early human fossils. The findings, detailed in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, portray Neanderthals as a live fast and die young species.
Our characteristically slow development and long childhood therefore appear to be recent and unique to Homo sapiens. These traits may have given our early modern human ancestors an evolutionary advantage over Neanderthals.
Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and her colleagues made the determination after using a high-tech method called synchrotron micro-computed tomography to virtually count growth lines in teeth. These lines, like rings in trees, reveal yearly growth progress....