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La revolución del ADN en un viaje al Pleistoceno

PALEONTOLOGY

Rosa M. Tristan

Neanderthals

, less than 28,000 years ago, is in full force, as demonstrated by the conference this past week met at the Archaeological Museum of Madrid, in Alcala de Henares, six of the most prestigious English researchers in this area.

Under the heading of "Close Encounters of the Pleistocene. Human evolution in the light of DNA", the museum director and archaeologist, Enrique Baquedano, managed to put on the table the different interpretations of the experts on the following question: will our species wiped out the Neanderthals? Paleontologist

Jordi Agustí, Catalan Institute of Human Paleontology and Social Evolution (IPHES), recalled that extinctions of species in nature, are common when they reach others with a higher biological effectiveness, which can be for culture, higher reproduction or other factors. "The Homo sapiens arrived in central Europe and was more effective biologically, so Neanderthal population bags were taken off," he argued.

His interpretation is shared by Juan Luis Arsuaga

, Professor of Paleontology Complutense University in and project co-director of Atapuerca. Arsuaga reminded that the development of a dating system just introduced has increased the age of some fossils of Neanderthals of 32,000 years to 39,700, a date closer to the arrival of the 'sapiens' to Europe.

However,

Clive Finlayson, director of the Gibraltar Museum, and the excavation of a cave with Neanderthal remains are in the Rock, the data are inconclusive. "To have found remains of nearly 40,000 years ago does not mean they disappeared then, but maybe there were many. I believe that Neanderthals were a species more intelligent than you think. "

For Clive, it is easy to show competition between species." I do not think our species will displace. It could be that it take to get to Europe (which occurred after arrival in Australia) because they were the Neanderthals. The problem is we have very few pieces of a 'very complex puzzle, "he noted. For its part, Antonio Rosas, of the Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC) and member of the cave Asturian The Sidrón, explained that according to the latest studies of Neanderthals, this species was also different populations, particularly among those living in northern, southern and eastern Africa.

biologist

Lalueza-Fox Carles

, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC), said that although

only 80 genes differentiate us from Neanderthals the or expression of these genes represents a degree of complexity that result in phenotypes more different than that deduced from DNA.

In fact, as recalled Lalueza-Fox, genetics has uncovered a new species, not yet named as such, known as the denisovanos , which would have occupied Asia, from north to south. "This tells us that our species left Africa, but once outside it was crossed with other species that lived in Eurasia.

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