DNA of 'Thorin,' one of the last Neanderthals, finally sequenced revealing inbreeding

[Dave Grubb]

and 50,000 years of genetic isolation.

"Thorin", one of the last Neanderthals to walk the planet, was part of a previously unknown lineage that was isolated for 50,000 years, a new analysis of his DNA finds.

Discovered in 2015 at the entrance to the Grotte Mandrin rock shelter in the Rhône River valley of southern France, Thorin — nicknamed after a dwarf in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" — has sometimes been called the "last Neanderthal" because he may have lived as recently as 42,000 years ago, close to when our closest human relatives disappeared. Although only his teeth and portions of the skull have been recovered so far, Thorin's genome was analyzed to better understand when and how Neanderthals disappeared.

[Truckman]

I'm pretty sure they still walk the Earth, some more upright than others, usually found at political rallies......Ben

[Dave Grubb]

Ya---with red hats on

[UTAH]

I think it's cool that we discovered, through DNA analysis, that Homo Sapiens did not kill off the Neanderthals. Quite the contrary - we mated with them. Just like Neanderthals mated with Denisovans.

One thing that confounds religious scholars about our ancestral roots - at which point in evolution do we obtain a soul? Heck, we now know Neanderthals made tools, spoke and created cave art - but did they have the potential for eternal life? We'll never know. All we can do is state what we believe.

Hunter

[Sandman]

A lecturer at the Smithsonian claims that blue eyes come from the Neanderthals.. who knows..


I was taught, by the heretic nuns, that creation in the Bible was not a physical event but a spiritual event.. the granting of free will and a soul.. again, who knows..