Biden blasts 'Neanderthal thinking' of governors who lifted covid-19 mandates in Texas, Mississippi

[WarGamer]

47. Not that it matters much...

But it's time to give up the "old-skool" Neanderthal slurs...

I don't care about the recipient of the slur, LMAO...

But over the last 20 years we've learned a LOT about our Neanderthal ancestors.

1) They had larger brains than H. sapiens

2) They were far from stupid. We've found evidence of production of art, burial rituals and evidence of advanced tool making.

3) They didn't get "killed off" by H. sapiens

4) They had better eyesight and hearing than H. sapiens



Tidbits of info:

Neanderthals lived for around 250,000 years (or around 7000 years for my X-Tian friends) and were very resilient when Earth conditions were extremely rugged and harsh.

H. sapiens have only been around for 100,000 years, most of that time spent in warmer climates.

In many ways, Neanderthal were "Supermen"

They had thicker bones, heavier frames, enhanced musculature, great hearing and eyesight and killed large animals in hand to hand combat, probably with spears.

Their lifespan ran up near 50 years and fossil evidence of healed fractures shows the community helped each other, took care of their infirm.

And lastly, Neanderthal made H. sapiens better.

With the mixing of DNA, H. sapiens became more durable, stronger, healthier and more resistant to disease.

SO what killed off the Neanderthal?

Basically they were a high maintenance animal. They lived in small groups. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology suggest that the combination of small population numbers (they never reproduced wildly), inbreeding and frankly, bad luck.

They compare the Neanderthals to modern day Indian Tigers which live in small numbers in isolation... and are ripe for extinction.

So next time someone says "Dumb as a Neanderthal"... slap them and suggest they read a book. Start with reading Svante Paabo.