I feel bad about Neanderthals.

[seaglass]

I've been thinking about them a lot lately and it's making me feel kind of sad that they don't exist anymore.

Just thought I'd share.

[mainegreen]

1. My ancestors killed them

or so says National Geographic's genographic project,

[seaglass]

3. Ah, I don't think they directly killed them, they just couldn't

compete. They tried hard though. So sad.

[SOteric]

2. Don't fret.

They're still around, but now they wear business suits and drag their knuckles around the carpeting at my office.

[seaglass]

5. I can picture that too.

:rofl:

[undeterred]

4. I work with a couple of them.

Their extinction was greatly exaggerated.

[cobalt1999]

6. would have been interesting to know how they behaved.

Considering the avg. modern human has a brain size between 1200 - 1500 ml in volume and neanderthals had an average of 1300-1700ml. You have to wonder what they were like.

Knowing how violent Homo Sapiens are, you have to wonder how those earliest contacts went.

[BreweryYardRat]

8. Bigger brain doesn't necessarily mean smarter, though.

[cobalt1999]

9. Oh, I know.

However, that's what makes it interesting...just how smart were they? They were burning a lot of calories to keep that much brain running, so they had to of been using it for something. Even accounting for their larger size, they had a brain/body size ratio as good as modern humans...what were they like?

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Don't exist? America has some 57 million of 'em.

Probably a hell of a lot more.