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05/05/2008: "Neanderthals were separate species, new study finds"

A new, simplified family tree of humanity has dealt a blow to those who contend that the enigmatic hominids known as Neanderthals intermingled with our forebears.

Neanderthals were a separate species to Homo sapiens, as anatomically modern humans are known, rather than offshoots of the same species, the new organigram published Sunday by the journal Nature declares.

Some opinions aver that the Neanderthals were slowly wiped out by the smarter H. sapiens in the competition for resources.

Other contend that we and the Neanderthals were more than just kissing cousins. Interbreeding took place, which explains why the Neanderthal line died out, but implies that we could have Neanderthal inheritage in our genome today, goes this theory.

[ Contradictory messages there. Did anyone ever dispute that neanderthals were a separate species? Charles Darwin felt that the different races of man could be different species! We could still have interbred on a small scale and any advantageous features could have been passed on while other features caused the end of various bloodlines. ]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080505/sc_afp/scienceanthropologyneanderthals_080505102139