Neanderthal Man and Modern Man: Genetic Relationship

Extract

[...] The main difference lies in their colonization of environments, which remains very limited in the case of the Neanderthal man. Therefore, we can see that there is a great homology between these two populations. In document which is a map of the distribution of Neanderthals, we can see that they lived mainly in Europe and a little in Asia. So mainly in a moderate climate and a relatively small territory, unlike the modern man who colonized most of the planet. [...]

[...] II. Part Exercise 1. D 2. D 3. A 4. A 5. B 6. C 7. C Exercise From the study of these documents we will discuss the place of the Neanderthal man in the evolutionary classification. In fact, we can wonder if the Neanderthal man and the modern man (or Homo sapiens) are two distinct species or two subspecies that can be interbred. In document we can see an anatomical comparison of Homo sapiens and Homo neandertalensis. [...]

[...] We can see that there are no differences between Cro-Magnon men and modern men from this point of view. On the other hand, we find between 3 and 4 differences between modern men and Neanderthals. We can also note that there are differences within the group of Neanderthals themselves, showing genetic heterogeneity. These results are represented graphically by a phylogenetic tree that groups Cro-Magnon men and modern men together, but marks a clear genetic separation with the Neanderthal group, which are themselves split into two, showing the intervention of another common ancestor before the separation with modern men. [...]

[...] One of the important mechanisms explaining this diversification of life concerns the expression of genes. In fact, the expression of certain genes, especially those of development, changes in duration and intensity over time. If we take the example of FoxP2, which enables language acquisition in humans, it is very important for modulating the expression of different genes, whether to activate them or put them to sleep." The interaction with the environment is very important in the establishment of this mechanism. [...]