Friday 16 August 2024
More on why neanderthal Man is disinherited no more.
Fossil Friday: Human Nature of Neanderthals Supported Again
In a recent Fossil Friday article (Bechly 2024) I discussed the many lines of evidence that have accumulated in the past decade in favor of a fully human nature of Neanderthal men. As I documented with many references to the most up-to-date peer-reviewed research, we know that Neanderthals used fire, buried their dead, created stone circles and bone tools, made jewelry from eagle talons and used feathers as body decoration, made cave art with paintings and engravings, played music with bone flutes, used ochre as pigment and sophisticated fiber technology, produced flour from processed plants, dived for seafood, cooked food and self-medicated with herbal painkillers and antibiotics, and even produced glue from birch bark with a complex chemical procedure.
Hints of Compassion
Now, we can add compassion to this growing list of very human behaviors. A new study by Conde-Valverde et al. (2024) described fragments of hominin fossils from the Cova Negra cave in Spain, which have been dated by electron spin resonance (ESR)/U-series to an age of 273-146 thousand years ago. The age and the morphology clearly suggest an attribution to Neanderthals. But the truly remarkable finding was that the remains of a six-year-old child showed the typical congenital pathologies of the inner ear associated with debilitating Down syndrome. The authors suggest that this disabled child “would have required care for at least 6 years, likely necessitating other group members to assist the mother in childcare.” The press release emphasized that this “Fossil of Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome hints at early humans’ compassion” (Reuters 2024).
It was known already that Neanderthals cared for sick and injured individuals (Hublin 2009, Noble 2010, Spikins et al. 2010, 2018, Tilley 2015, 2022, Thorpe 2016, Spikins 2022), but such behavior can also be found in some of the more intelligent and social animal species like the great apes, elephants, and whales. However, extended caregiving for a strongly disabled child is a highly non-Darwinian behavior that indeeds suggests compassion on a level only found in humans, because it is not driven by mere survival of the fittest and differential reproductive success. Elephants abandon or even kill disabled infants (Rodrigo 2011). Monkeys and apes usually neglect or reject disabled infants (Hogenboom 2015), or at best bother to care for a few weeks (Jackson 2023, Valença & Falótico 2023). There exists just a single report of maternal care for a 23-months-old disabled chimp infant with symptoms similar to Down syndrome (AFP 2015, Matsumoto et al. 2016). The compassionate caregiving of Neanderthals is clearly not intermediate between such animal behaviour and human behavior, but rather as Noble (2010) put it: Modern research “rejects the popular portrayal of Neanderthals as simple, unfeeling brutes and suggests that our closest ancient relatives may well have demonstrated a level of compassion that would put many modern humans to shame, caring for the infirm and the vulnerable for years at a time in organised groups.”
Strongly Corroboration
As I discussed in my previous article (Bechly 2024), the strong evidence for significant and common genetic admixture with modern humans, also suggests that Neanderthals and modern humans belonged to the same species. This was recently strongly corroborated by a new genetic study published in the journal Science (Li et al. 2024; also see Choi 2024b and Starr 2024), which found clear evidence for a “recurrent gene flow between Neanderthals and modern humans over the past 200,000 years”, suggesting a decreasing Neanderthal population that “was ultimately being absorbed into the modern human gene pool” as already suggested by a previous study (Stringer & Crété 2022). This definitely goes far beyond just some rare instances of admixture. Instead, it confirms a shared gene pool of different subpopulations within the same biospecies. Neanderthals were not a separate species of primitive hominins that went extinct, but were one of us and are still with us in our genes. They only vanished as a distinct group just like many other ancient subpopulations of humans, such as the Jomon people in Japan.
A Somewhat Different Result
Strangely, another new genetic study by Iasi et al. (2024), which is still in preprint stage and not yet peer-reviewed, comes to a somewhat different result and “suggests that humans interbred with Neanderthals 47,000 years ago for a period lasting 6,800 years” (Choi 2024a), but that “interbreeding that occurred at other times, such as the earlier events that impacted the Neanderthal genome, likely did not leave a detectable trace in our genome” (Choi 2024b). Looks like there is still much room for disagreement and different interpretation of the data, leading to quite different speculative scenarios.
Anyway, neither compassionate human behavior nor a shared gene pool would by itself refute a Darwinian evolution of modern humans, but such evidence certainly better resonates with the views of Darwin critics, who have always championed the view that there is only one humankind and that it is unique and distinct from the animal kingdom. Neanderthals and other ancient representatives of our genus Homo are not “stepping stones” on the way from bacteria to Beethoven, but just examples of human diversity in space and time.
References
AFP 2015. Japan researchers find chimps caring for disabled infant. Phys.org November 11, 2015. https://phys.org/news/2015-11-japan-chimps-disabled-infant.html
Bechly G 2024. Fossil Friday: New Evidence for the Human Nature of Neanderthals. Evolution News February 2, 2024. https://evolutionnews.org/2024/02/fossil-friday-new-evidence-for-the-human-nature-of-neanderthals/
Choi C 2024a. Neanderthals and humans interbred 47,000 years ago for nearly 7,000 years, research suggests. LiveScience June 7, 2024. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/neanderthals-and-humans-interbred-47000-years-ago-for-nearly-7000-years-research-suggests
Choi C 2024b. Neanderthals didn’t truly go extinct, but were rather absorbed into the modern human population, DNA study suggests. LiveScience July 11, 2024. https://www.livescience.com/health/genetics/neanderthals-didnt-truly-go-extinct-but-were-rather-absorbed-into-the-modern-human-population-dna-study-suggests
Conde-Valverde M, Quirós-Sánchez A, Diez-Valero J, Mata-Castro N, García-Fernández A, Quam R, Carretero JM, García-González R, Rodríguez L, Sánchez-Andrés Á, Arsuaga JL, Martínez I & Villaverde V 2024. The child who lived: Down syndrome among Neanderthals? Science Advances 10(26):eadn9310, 1–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn9310
Iasi LNM, Chintalapati M, Skov L, Bossoms Meta A, Hajdinjak M, Peter BM & Moorjani P 2024. Neandertal ancestry through time: Insights from genomes of ancient and present-day humans. bioRxiv May 13, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.13.593955
Hogenboom M 2015. The wild chimpanzee who cared for her child with disability. Projeto GAP November 17, 2015. https://www.projetogap.org/en/news/the-wild-chimpanzee-who-cared-for-her-child-with-disability/
Hublin J 2009. The prehistory of compassion. PNAS 106(16), 6429–6430. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0902614106
Jackson J 2023. Compassionate disabled infant care from a wild capuchin monkey mother. Phys.org March 7, 2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-compassionate-disabled-infant-wild-capuchin.html
Li L, Comi TJ, Bierman RF & Akey JM 2024. Recurrent gene flow between Neanderthals and modern humans over the past 200,000 years. Science 385(6705), 1–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi1768
Matsumoto T, Itoh N, Inoue S & Nakamura M 2016. An observation of a severely disabled infant chimpanzee in the wild and her interactions with her mother. Primates 57, 3–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-015-0499-6
Noble C 2010. My bright idea: Neanderthals could show compassion. The Guardian October 10, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/oct/10/bright-idea-neanderthals-evolution
Reuters 2024. Fossil of Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome hints at early humans’ compassion. The Guardian June 26, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jun/26/fossil-of-neanderthal-child-with-downs-syndrome-hints-at-early-humans-compassion
Rodrigo M 2011. Handicapped baby jumbo left bleeding and abandoned in paddy field. Sunday Times May 1, 2011. https://www.sundaytimes.lk/110501/News/nws_28.html
Spikins P 2022. Material evidence: Caring for adult vulnerabilities. pp. 71–127 in: Hidden Depths: The Origins of Human Connection. White Rose University Press, New York (NY). DOI: https://doi.org/10.22599/HiddenDepths.c
Spikins P, Rutherford H & Needham A 2010. The Prehistory of Compassion. Blurb, 106 pp. https://www.blurb.com/b/1628917-the-prehistory-of-compassion
Spikins P, Needham A, Tilley L & Hitchens G 2018. Calculated or caring? Neanderthal healthcare in social context. World Archaeology 50, 384–403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1433060
Starr M 2024. Humans And Neanderthals Had a Longer, More Intertwined Relationship Than We Thought. ScienceAlert July 12, 2024. https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-and-neanderthals-had-a-longer-more-intertwined-relationship-than-we-thought
Stringer C & Crété L 2022. Mapping Interactions of H. neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens from the Fossil and Genetic Records. PaleoAnthropology 2, 401–412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48738/2022.iss2.130
Thorpe N 2016. The Palaeolithic Compassion debate – Alternative Projections of Modern-Day Disability into the Distant Past. Chapter 6, pp. 93–110 in: Powell L, Southwell-Wright W & Gowland R (eds). Care in the Past: Archaeological and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Oxbow Books, Oxford (UK), 208 pp. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1kw290q.11
Tilley L 2015. Setting the Scene for a Bioarchaeology of Care. pp. 13–64 in: Theory and Practice in the Bioarchaeology of Care. Springer, Cham, xvii+319 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18860-7_2
Tilley L 2022. Disability and Care in the Bioarchaeological Record. Meeting the Challenges of Being Human. pp. 457–481 in: Grauer AL (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology. Routledge, London (UK), 692 pp. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003130994-28/disability-care-bioarchaeological-record-lorna-tilley
Valença T & Falótico T 2023. Life and death of a disabled wild capuchin monkey infant. Primates 64, 207–213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-023-01052-1
The Bishop's Mitre: a brief history.
Mitre, liturgical headdress worn by Roman Catholic bishops (including cardinals, archbishops, and popes) and abbots and some Anglican and Lutheran bishops. It has two shield-shaped stiffened halves that face the front and back. Two fringed streamers, known as lappets, hang from the back. It developed from the papal tiara and came into use in the 11th century. The mitre is worn over a zucchetto, a silk or polyester skullcap. See also religious dress.
Three types of mitres are worn in the Roman Catholic Church. The simplex is made of undecorated white linen or silk and is worn at funerals, on Good Friday, and for some other services, such as Candlemas. The auriphrygiata is made of plain gold cloth or white silk with gold or silver embroidered bands and is worn during penitential seasons (Advent and Lent) and at some other times. The pretiosa is decorated with precious stones and gold and worn on Sundays and feast days, as well as for ceremonies such as the election of a pope, the consecration of a bishop, or the canonization of a saint.
The Greek mitra worn by bishops and some Russian clergy in the Eastern churches is similar to a closed crown with a cross on top.
Yet more on why there is truly no place like home.
Study: Geological Habitability Parameters Imply Earth is Special and Advanced Life Extremely Rare
Looking forward to the August 27 release of the new edition of The Privileged Planet, which you can pre-order now, we’ve been considering issues of habitability — on Mars (here and here), and on the moons Enceladus and Titan. Now comes a new paper in Scientific Reports, “The importance of continents, oceans and plate tectonics for the evolution of complex life: implications for finding extraterrestrial civilizations.” It argues that extraterrestrial “advanced communicative civilizations” (or ACCs) must be extremely rare in the universe. Their logic is simple: ACCs would require planets with continents, oceans, and plate tectonics, but these major geological features of Earth are likely to be very rare elsewhere. If these features are required for ACCs, and if they are rare, then such advanced civilizations must also be very rare.
An excellent article at Nautilus, “The Odds That Aliens Exist Just Got Worse,” explains the paper’s basic findings: “The likelihood that other technologically sophisticated societies exist is smaller than previously thought, because basic amenities we take for granted on Earth — continents, oceans, and plate tectonics — are cosmically rare.” But if we take these findings out of the context of current obsessions over aliens, then the implication, of course, is simply that Earth is very privileged because the presence of continents, oceans, and plate tectonics on our planet is extremely rare.
Unknowns of the Drake Equation
As a geologist, what I find most fascinating about this Scientific Reports article is that it adds new geological factors to the Drake equation. That is the famous equation that is used to roughly calculate the number of technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. The Nautilus article notes that the values of some factors in the classical formulation of the Drake equation are very difficult to estimate, particularly:
the fraction of potentially habitable planets on which life likely has emerged (a variable that’s completely unconstrained, since only one case — ours — is known); the fraction of those planets on which intelligent life has developed (a criterion that often elicits dark humor about whether human life qualifies); the fraction of that fraction that have sent signals into deep space (again, just one known example, out-going calls only); and the length of time those civilizations have been sending such signals (to be determined).
Some argue that even the low ends of reasonable estimated ranges for these factors imply that ET life should be sending telecommunications to us Earthlings. So why aren’t we getting any signals? This absence of ET life communicating with us is known as the “Fermi Paradox.”
How to Resolve the Fermi Paradox?
There are many possible ways to understand why we aren’t hearing from ET life — not the least of which is that, as the best evidence suggests, life is extremely unlikely to arise via natural chemical means. But the Nautilus article explains that the study tried to resolve the paradox by arguing that very few planets have the requisite geological factors needed for advanced life to arise:
Bringing a geologic perspective to the problem, Stern and Gerya propose to resolve the paradox by adding two more factors to the already unwieldy Drake equation: the fraction of habitable planets with distinct continents and oceans; and the fraction of those planets with a plate tectonic system that has operated for at least 500 million years. The values of these terms are very small, they argue, because the development of distinct landmasses and water bodies, and the tectonic habit of crustal recycling — characteristics of Earth that we take for granted — are unlikely outcomes in the evolution of rocky planets.
With these new factors, the number of advanced civilizations in our galaxy that might communicate with us falls to … almost zero.
The technical paper explains that a planet where ACCs evolve requires ocean basins, continental dry land, and plate tectonics: “Although primitive life must evolve in the sea, advanced communicative civilizations must evolve on dry land.” In light of these requirements, it proposes geological terms for resolving the Fermi Paradox:
We resolve the Fermi Paradox (1) by adding two additional terms to the Drake Equation: foc (the fraction of habitable exoplanets with significant continents and oceans) and fpt (the fraction of habitable exoplanets with significant continents and oceans that have had plate tectonics operating for at least 0.5 Ga); and (2) by demonstrating that the product of foc and fpt is very small (< 0.00003–0.002).
Note the value at the end: “< 0.00003–0.002.” If you add a factor with that value to the Drake equation, it suggests that ACC life elsewhere in the galaxy is extremely rare — if it exists at all.
Plate Tectonics Necessary for Life
There are multiple reasons why plate tectonics is necessary for life — something I spoke about in my talk at Discovery Institute’s 2022 Dallas Conference on Science and Faith.
Thus, I wholeheartedly agree with the Nautilus article when it states:
Most geologists will agree with Stern’s and Gerya’s argument that plate tectonics should be included as a criterion for long-term planetary habitability. Earth’s tectonic system allows the planet’s atmosphere and hydrosphere to remain in communication with its interior, in a remarkable, self-perpetuating cycle. Subducted ocean crust — seafloor that slips down into Earth’s interior — carries water back into the mantle, and at shallow depths, this water lowers the melting temperature of mantle rock, giving rise to unusual magmas that create the continental crust — what we surface dwellers live on — which is rich in rare elements, like phosphorus, that are critical to life.
At greater depths, subducted water acts to decrease the viscosity of the mantle, allowing it to churn, or convect, more vigorously — which in turn drives plate motion. When the Earth’s mantle exports heat via convection, it encourages the liquid iron outer core to convect as well, and this generates Earth’s protective magnetic field, which shields the surface environment from harmful cosmic radiation. Without plate tectonics, continents would quickly be eroded to sea level. But tectonic collisions continuously rejuvenate Earth’s topography, providing rivers with more energy to transport nutrient-rich sediments to shallow marine environments. In other words, plate tectonics is entangled with all the phenomena that support life on Earth.
So plate tectonics is vital for generating our magnetic field (necessary for life), maintaining the presence of life-necessary elements in the oceans, and creating both continents and oceans (which, if you haven’t noticed, are also vital for advanced life). This is all very reasonable, as is the study’s conclusion that plate tectonics is probably very rare on planets in the universe.
One reason for this is that all of the other rocky planets in our solar system have something called “stagnant lid” tectonics. That’s where the lithosphere of a planet is composed of a single plate and only vertical tectonic movement occurs due to upwelling from the mantle, but not horizontal plate movement. Earth is the only known planet to have horizontal plate tectonics movement, suggesting it is rare:
How Old Is Plate Tectonics on Earth?
One thing that is likely to get some pushback is the study’s claim that modern-style plate tectonics on Earth did not commence until the Neoproterozoic, which lasted from about 1 billion years ago until the beginning of the Cambrian period (about 540 million years ago). Many geologists, including many who work in paleomagnetism (the field of my PhD research), would argue that plate tectonics began very early in Earth’s history. That’s because we see evidence of continents on the move going all the way back into the Archean. But this controversy should not affect the paper’s basic claim. Here’s why:
The value of their fpt factor, added to the Drake equation, assumes that plate tectonics has only been operating on Earth for about 0.5 Ga (Ga = gigaannum, or a billion years). If plate tectonics has been operating for longer than that, it would presumably make Earth even more special, because plate tectonics would be longer lasting. In other words, in estimating the specialness of Earth, the paper’s calculations are conservative. In any case, however long plate tectonics has been operating on our planet, it seems that any other planets with plate tectonics, continents, and oceans are rare, and very special indeed.
Our Lord and Savior is a biblicist.
John ch.17:17KJV"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
John ch.5:39KJV"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
John Ch.5:45KJV"“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set."
Luke Ch.16:29-31KJV"Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
Luke Ch.24:32KJV"And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?"
The true Spirit of JEHOVAH causes reverence for and clear understanding of JEHOVAH'S Word the Holy Bible,any Spirit exalting tradition over JEHOVAH'S Word or promoting irrational exegesis of same is of a different source.
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