The genes of Neandertde Neanderthal

2008/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Genetika
• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

Did the Neanderthals speak? No affirmative or negative rounds can be given. But a new argument for this debate can be the trace of the FOXP2 gene found in the bones of these hominids.

The FOXP2 gene is found in many animals, but in the case of humans it seems that some specific changes of this gene allow to speak. In the study of some Neanderthal bones appeared in Spain, remains of the FOXP2 gene have been found. The sequence of the gene of the tracks coincides with that of the current man. But, from this discovery, not all scientists have come to the same idea.

On the one hand, those who have worked on this research consider that Neanderthals had the capacity to speak because they had that gene. However, they think they had less speech capacity than the Homo sapiens. On the other hand, other researchers consider that these traces are contaminated with a more modern DNA or may be remnants of a mixture between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.