Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
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Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Such categories are only an approximation of reality to help with classification. There is stuff like ring species [1] for example or species complex [2]. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_species [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_complex
Any known ring species where (A + B cannot breed OR B + C cannot breed) AND A + B can breed? Assume not possible?
You are asking for both A&B and !(A&B)?
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#63What is the difference between the genes identifies as "extra-species sourced" and those which are a nominal part of homo sapiens DNA? How do we know they don't originate from intra-species mutation, for example?
Genes tend to to accumulate mutations at a constant rate (lots of caveats here, but that's the general idea). If you find that a population has a family of gene variants that are very different from the same ones in another population, then it's a good bet it arrived from external breeding. And the relative differences between the modern descendant genes can tell you when it happened. Again, I'm sure the real models…
How do they differentiate multiple parallel lines lines of mutations coming back together from a separate subspecies existing for much longer?
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#64If we interbred with them, how are they actually species? It seems more to me you're talking more about racial or breed differences akin to breeds of dogs if two species actually successfuly had viable offspring in the wild.
Yeah, seems more logical to say ancient human experienced a number genetic divergences which were then folded into the mainline of the genetic stream.
Not at all. For instance, it is thought that H. sapiens × H. neanderthalis hybrids, while viable at least some of the time, were almost never fertile. To explain the Neanderthal contribution to the genome of modern humans, only a very low frequency of successful hybridization events is required.
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#65Can these species be said to be extinct when their DNA is very much alive?
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#66So its possible that modern races of humans are actually our archaic ancestors?
Archaic ancestors, by definition, died a very long time ago. Modern "races" are all equally modern.
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#67So its possible that modern races of humans are actually our archaic ancestors?
No, what most people refer to as races of humans are a set of traits that are surprisingly shared across populations, albeit in different quantities. The traits that we’ve inherited from our archaic ancestors aren’t really the types of traits people use a distinguishing features between populations.
Question is would the Neanderthals have also shared traits with other hominids? I find that religion and politics kind of muddies the science with human evolution
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#68Can these species be said to be extinct when their DNA is very much alive?
Birds evolved from dinosaurs, certainly those are extinct, yet they share a large portion of DNA.
Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#69Re: Humans Interbred with Four Extinct Hominin Species, Research Finds
#70If we interbred with them, how are they actually species? It seems more to me you're talking more about racial or breed differences akin to breeds of dogs if two species actually successfuly had viable offspring in the wild.
I'm sure you'd agree that a wolf and a chihuahua are different species. Yet they can interbreed and the offspring would likely be fertile as well. Species are primarily created when two groups do not interbreed for a sufficiently long period of time resulting in an accumulation of distinct differences. The crazy thing is that time period is not especially long. The time distance from wolf to chihuahua is only about 1…
They are not different species in any traditional biological sense. Yes, they look different due to radical changes in developmental pathways. But the differences are not actually very extreme genetically. They have almost exactly the same basic biology.