Neanderthal Skeletal Structure and the Place of Homo neanderthalensis in European Hominid Phylogeny |
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Authors: | Ian Tattersall |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Anthropology American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA |
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Abstract: | Although the debate rages on over whether the Neanderthals merit their own species status or should be viewed as an odd variant
of Homo sapiens, recent evidence has accumulated that overwhelmingly supports the former interpretation. Among this evidence is a recent
full-body skeletal reconstruction that not only highlights the extreme differences between the highly apomorphic H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis in the construction of the thorax and pelvic girdle, but strongly suggests significant gait differences between the two species
that add to the probability that the two kinds of hominid would not have recognized each other as breeding partners. This
is hardly surprising since the two species possessed a relatively remote common ancestry, and it is indeed suggested here
that Homo neanderthalensis was merely one species embedded within a diverse and endemic middle Pleistocene European hominid radiation. Clearly more
than one lineage of hominids simultaneously occupied Europe during the middle Pleistocene. |
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Keywords: | Neanderthals Homo neanderthalensis reconstructed skeleton species identity phylogenetic position |
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