- 3 weeks ago
Embark on a captivating scientific journey as we delve into groundbreaking research that unravels the mysteries of Neanderthal DNA.
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00:0054,000 years ago, there was one interesting group that lived in caves.
00:05A father, daughter, and a couple of other members who were their close relatives.
00:09And the cool thing here is that they were the first Neanderthal family we know about.
00:14A team of scientists studied ancient DNA from their teeth and bones
00:18to learn more about early human society.
00:21And this research showed a cool thing.
00:24They probably lived in these caves at the same time, together.
00:28There were 11 Neanderthals that lived together in one cave
00:32and two others from another cave that was somewhere close in the neighborhood.
00:36So there were 13 of them, 8 grown-ups, and 5 kids.
00:40Together with their DNA, scientists also found their stone tools and animal bones.
00:47Neanderthals are the ancient human relatives that are definitely the closest ones to us.
00:52Their skull was long and flattened.
00:54If you compare it to the skull of Homo sapiens, that's more globular.
00:58They also had this specific prominent brow ridge above the eyes.
01:04You can easily recognize them by their face too,
01:07with the central part of the face protruding forward.
01:10Plus, they had a large, broad nose.
01:13Some believe their nose was a way of adapting to living in cold, dry environments.
01:18When the inside of the nose is bigger, it moistens and warms the air you breathe better.
01:24Unlike us, they didn't have much of a chin.
01:27Also, scratch marks on their front teeth tell us
01:29Neanderthals used them like a third hand when they would prepare food
01:33and work with materials they used.
01:36Their bodies were strong and muscular, with wide shoulders and hips.
01:41Their average height was 5 to 5.7 feet, with a weight of 140 to 180 pounds.
01:50Their stocky appearance with short lower arm and lower leg bones
01:54minimized their skin surface, better protecting them from the cold.
01:58Their lifespan was about 30 years, even though some of them lived longer than that.
02:05Neanderthals would dwell in regions that are now Europe and Asia for over 350,000 years.
02:12They disappeared somewhere around 40,000 years ago.
02:16That's about the time we could find traces of Homo sapiens in Europe.
02:21Their families were close-knit groups of 10 to 20.
02:25That's a lot less than the population of any ancient or modern human community.
02:30It's more like the size of groups of endangered species that are close to going extinct.
02:37These Neanderthals lived in their caves with small communities,
02:41but they didn't live isolated from the rest of their kind.
02:44They relied on each other for survival.
02:47They took care of one another, especially those who couldn't care for themselves.
02:52Also, their caves aren't as primitive as we might imagine.
02:56For example, they had a hole close to hearts, and they would probably use it to heat water.
03:02Also, they would organize their space.
03:05They had sleeping areas, parts of the cave where they could leave trash,
03:08and areas where they could make stone tools and prepare their food.
03:13They would travel through the river valleys to catch their prey,
03:16such as bison, ibex, horses, and other animals.
03:20They were skilled in planning their strategies.
03:23Some studies showed they were aware of reindeer migration patterns,
03:27so they would plan their actions according to their predictions of where their prey could move.
03:34One of the biggest animals they would go after was the woolly mammoth.
03:38You know them, a relative of modern elephants covered in fur with a weight of up to 12,000 pounds
03:44that went extinct a long time ago.
03:47And studies showed woolly mammoths and Neanderthals shared some genetic traits.
03:52It's not that surprising when you think about it.
03:54Both species developed from African ancestors
03:57before they managed to adapt to the cold, harsh climates of Eurasia during the Ice Age.
04:03So they faced similar conditions and both went extinct at about the same time.
04:10Neanderthals also used stone to make tools,
04:13similar to ones other early humans used,
04:16such as scrapers and blades made from stone flakes.
04:19These tools scientists found in both of the caves they studied
04:23are created using the same raw materials.
04:26That means the communities probably hung out and interacted with each other in some way.
04:32Until the 20th century,
04:34many thought that Neanderthals were very different from modern humans
04:37considering their genetics, physical appearance, and behavior.
04:42But more recent discoveries about this well-preserved Eurasian fossil population
04:47have shown that some of the people in it were the same as people alive today.
04:52Neanderthals lived before and during the last Ice Age
04:56in some of the harshest places that humans have ever lived.
05:00Besides their tools and catching animals,
05:02they also gathered plants from around their area.
05:05They would also eat cooked vegetables relatively often.
05:09Their ability to stay alive for tens of thousands of years
05:12during the last Ice Age
05:14is a good example of how humans can adapt to almost any situation.
05:20Neanderthals made the earliest cave art that we know about.
05:24Scientists explored three Spanish caves where they lived
05:28and all of them had black and red paintings of dots,
05:31animals, and geometric symbols,
05:34together with handprints, hand stencils, and engravings.
05:37These paintings were made more than 60,000 years ago.
05:42Since Homo sapiens came to Europe 20,000 years after that,
05:47we can assume Neanderthals were the only human species on the continent at the time.
05:51So they must have been the ones who created this art.
05:55Also, these caves were 435 miles apart.
05:59So it wasn't like only some of the Neanderthals knew about it.
06:03Paintings were obviously their long-lived tradition.
06:07They were also big fans of fashion.
06:11They made their own jewelry, some of it out of eagle talons.
06:15The oldest examples we could find are nearly 130,000 years old.
06:21They also most likely used pigment to camouflage or decorate their bodies.
06:27Also, Homo sapiens weren't the only species that used fires.
06:31Researchers looked at more than 140 fireplace sites across Europe
06:36and realized Neanderthals used fire there for a long time, too.
06:41These signs included charcoal, burned bones, and heated stone artifacts.
06:47Neanderthals used fire for cooking food and making tools.
06:51They would stick wooden shafts into pieces of stone with pitch,
06:56which would be like natural glue.
06:58Since burning the bark of birch trees is the only way to make this sticky liquid,
07:03the Neanderthals must have been able to control fire.
07:07Most people imagine Neanderthals probably grunted, but that's not true in reality.
07:12They didn't quite sound like us, either.
07:14Their big chest, posture, and the shape of their throats probably resulted in a voice that was louder
07:20and higher pitched than the average human's voice.
07:23They probably didn't have sophisticated vocabularies as we do,
07:27but they could use complex speech because they had the hyoid bone.
07:31It's this little thing we have in our neck, too,
07:35the one that supports the root of our tongue.
07:37It's the same feature that allows us to vocalize as we do.
07:42They were more similar to us than we might expect.
07:45Some believe Neanderthals even built boats so they could sail across the Mediterranean.
07:50And it's not like Neanderthals lived somewhere, went extinct, and then modern humans showed up.
07:55It seems these groups did meet around 100,000 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula or in the Middle East.
08:03That's when the first groups of modern humans were moving from Africa.
08:07Scientists analyzed the DNA of one of the Neanderthal women that lived more than 50,000 years ago,
08:13and it includes genetics from modern humans, too.
08:17Some traits we have, like skin and hair color, mood and sleeping patterns,
08:22are connected to the amount of sunlight we get.
08:26Neanderthals lived in Europe and Asia for a long time before modern humans arrived there,
08:31so they were used to less sunlight compared to the ones who came from Africa.
08:37Neanderthals had different traits because of their exposure to less sunlight,
08:40and these traits were passed on to their offspring when they had children with modern humans.
08:46In other words, some of the traits that modern humans have today are influenced by Neanderthal genes.
08:52For example, people who are night owls often have Neanderthal genes.
08:57Also, around 1% of Neanderthals had light skin, red hair, and perhaps even freckles.
09:03Remember the Neanderthals?
09:05Our superstar humanoid cousins of the Pleistocene era in all their wide-nosed and slope-foreheaded glory?
09:11They roamed through Europe and Asia for over 350,000 years before they vanished.
09:17This was around the same time our ancestors, the Homo sapiens, decided to take a vacation from Africa and explore
09:23the world.
09:24We may never know what truly happened to the Neanderthals, and why they didn't make it to the present times,
09:29but thanks to some hefty archaeological digging and impressive fossil finds, we now know a bit more about them.
09:37One theory for their disappearance is that the climate wasn't suitable for them anymore.
09:41Supporters of this idea think Mother Nature turned on the Neanderthals and sent them packing.
09:47Unfortunately, if we look at Neanderthal archaeological sites in Italy, for example,
09:51there are no signs of weather catastrophes that could have wiped out this entire species.
09:57Others believe there was a bit of resource competition between Neanderthals and humans.
10:02That's why specialists also dug around several other archaeological sites
10:06where Neanderthals and sapiens might have rubbed elbows for about 3,000 years.
10:10In this case, it does seem that the Neanderthals were a bit behind with their tools.
10:15Their technology was like flip phones in the age of VR.
10:19But who knows if these two species ever crossed paths in that particular region.
10:23The evidence is still fuzzy.
10:25How they went extinct isn't the only information we're curious about when it comes to Neanderthals.
10:31Other scientists, for instance, are trying to decode some of the Neanderthal molecular barcodes
10:36to identify their specific traits, some of which you might share, believe it or not.
10:41Sure, Neanderthals as a whole species did, in fact, go extinct.
10:45But that's not to say remnants of their DNA can't be found in humans.
10:50Now you know how things go when folks live near each other.
10:53Some genetic mixing was bound to happen.
10:55The evidence?
10:56A dash of Neanderthal DNA which was found in modern folks.
10:59Now, this is where the plot thickens.
11:02Scientists thought that since Neanderthals never lived in Africa,
11:05their DNA wouldn't be found in modern African populations.
11:09Well, it turns out that African people have about 0.5% Neanderthal DNA too.
11:14This doesn't mean our Neanderthal relatives simply teleported through African territories
11:19without leaving any trace behind.
11:21What this discovery actually implies is that early humans might have visited Europe,
11:27mixed their genetic material with that of Neanderthals,
11:30after which they returned to Africa.
11:32That's a lot of migration.
11:34How did we stumble upon that Neanderthal DNA these days, you might wonder?
11:39Well, scientists gathered thousands of people from all around the world.
11:43Participants came from places like East Asia, Europe, South Asia, America, and Africa.
11:49Percentages may vary, sure, but around 20% of the good old Neanderthal DNA
11:53is still found in U.S. modern folks.
11:55Sure, the average Joe only carries about 2% of that caveman swagger.
11:59If you're from certain places or families that have a smidge more Neanderthal in their gene soup,
12:04you're looking at 3% tops.
12:07Is there anything in particular that we share with our long-gone humanoid cousins?
12:11They also passed down the incredible legacy of...
12:14their noses.
12:16Well, you see, the Neanderthals were outfitted with some seriously high-rising sniffers.
12:22These weren't just cosmetic, they were also quite the asset in chilly climates.
12:27The icicle-dripping, teeth-chattering kind of cold where your breath could freeze before it leaves your lips.
12:33During those days, the Neanderthal noses worked as personal heaters,
12:37warming and humidifying the cold, dry air they inhaled.
12:42For that kind of extreme weather, these impressive nasal skyscrapers turned out to be quite handy.
12:48When our Homo sapiens ancestors decided to leave the sunny savannas of Africa
12:52for a spot of frostbite up in Eurasia, they bumped into the Neanderthals.
12:57This encounter resulted in not just an exchange of pleasantries,
13:00but also an exchange of genes that coded for larger noses.
13:04This newfound genetic nugget was discovered by scientists who dug deep into the DNA of over 6,000 volunteers.
13:10To complete the study, these scientists meticulously compared this genetic data
13:15to snapshots of the volunteers' faces.
13:18They measured the distances between various points on each face,
13:22such as the height of the volunteers' nose bridges.
13:24They then played a game of spot the genetic marker
13:27to identify if certain facial traits were linked with specific genes.
13:31By the end of this exciting chase,
13:34they hit the jackpot 33 shiny new genome areas were linked to facial features.
13:40One standout gene, named ATF3, was traced back to our Neanderthal ancestors
13:44and seemed to be the maestro of controlling nose height.
13:47Participants with Native American ancestry had Neanderthal hand-me-downs in this gene,
13:52contributing to their taller noses.
13:54Think of the ATF3 gene as a Neanderthal housewarming gift to us humans
13:58as we stepped into colder climates from Africa.
14:02Interestingly, this isn't the first time our ancestors have played past the gene.
14:07Back in 2021, the same research team uncovered a gene influencing lip shape
14:12called TBX15.
14:14This gene was a little love note from the Denisovans,
14:17another set of our ancient relatives,
14:19who lived in Asia and went extinct around 30,000 years ago.
14:24Another part of the scientific community believes our Neanderthal buddies
14:27had this weird genetic feature when it came to their brains.
14:30Is that why they didn't make it?
14:31Through this theory, it was suggested that U.S. humans might owe our brainy edge
14:35to a quirky gene mutation.
14:37This mutation gave our neocortex,
14:40that's the smarty-pants part of the brain,
14:42a little population boom in the neuron department.
14:46This amazing gene of ours isn't all that different from the Neanderthal version.
14:50It's just one amino acid off,
14:52just like ordering a coffee with one sugar instead of none.
14:55This tiny tweak is found in virtually all modern humans.
14:59Meanwhile, our extinct relatives,
15:01the Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other primate pals,
15:05all missed the mutation memo,
15:07at least according to the study.
15:09Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
15:11Just because we have more neurons
15:13doesn't necessarily mean we're geniuses by comparison.
15:16But these results do suggest that we might have rewired the brain
15:19in a way that gave us a cognitive leg up.
15:22Also, it's not all about this lone amino acid difference.
15:25It's just a piece of the puzzle.
15:27Scientists have previously found a whopping 96 differences
15:31between our DNA and that of Neanderthals
15:33that could have potentially affected our different outcomes as species.
15:37Studying Neanderthal DNA also gave us some insight into their relationships.
15:42In fact, we now have some solid evidence of what a Neanderthal family looked like.
15:46And surprisingly, it's not really that different from ours.
15:49For this study,
15:50researchers gathered information from a Neanderthal archaeological site
15:54located in Asia.
15:56They discovered that one particular family included a doting Neanderthal dad,
16:01his teen daughter,
16:02and a sprightly young lad who was possibly their nephew or cousin.
16:06Part of the group was also an older female relative,
16:09maybe an aunt or granny.
16:11Now, our young damsel would eventually pack her bags,
16:14wave a teary goodbye,
16:16and leave her papa's home when she found Mr. Wright.
16:19Had she been a boy like her young cousin,
16:21she would have been a happy homebody.
16:23But worry not,
16:24she wasn't stepping into a world of strangers.
16:26Her new community likely had some familiar, friendly faces.
16:30But how were scientists able to predict the ending of this story?
16:33By browsing through their gene pool,
16:36researchers were able to figure out
16:38that the Neanderthal social structure was petrilical.
16:41What this means is that most female Neanderthals
16:44left their homes when choosing a partner
16:46and started a new life with another family.
16:49The same research shows that
16:51our cave-dwelling clans likely weren't living in isolation either.
16:55Families living close by
16:57were probably visiting the same rock sampling areas
16:59to make their stone tools,
17:01the equivalent of a neighborhood hardware store.
17:04And when they weren't tooling around,
17:06they were busy hunting delicious meals
17:07like ibex, horses, bison, and other wandering critters.
17:11Scientists, however, were careful to add
17:13that this ancient family portrait
17:15might not represent the full spectrum
17:16of Neanderthal social life.
17:18They've kindly asked future archaeologists
17:20to get more Neanderthal DNAs on the Ancestry websites.
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