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Re: Speciation - how do you know?
Stephen Barnard (steve@megafauna.com)
Sun, 29 Sep 1996 04:02:04 -0800
WVanhou237 wrote:
>
> In article <324C804D.BA5@megafauna.com>, Stephen Barnard
> <steve@megafauna.com> writes:
>
> >>
> >> Ambush hunters rely on (1) a short and intense burst of high speed
> >> and (2) overwhelming power or weaponry. They can't afford the risk
> >> of injury and either kill quickly or not at all.
> >>
> >> Neanderthals had neither (1) nor (2). Even if they managed to
> >> surprise a quadruped, there is no way they could have caught it or
> >> held it down. If it felt threatened (IMO somewhat unlikely) it
> >> would be off like a shot. And, unless it was small, they could not
> >> have killed it quickly. (Perhaps you could suggest how they might
> >> kill a large bovid quickly.) Furthermore, the risk of injury to
> >> the hominid would have been unacceptably high. A upright biped is
> >> extraordinarily vulnerable. One charge by a quadruped is likely
> >> to break its bones.
> >>
>
> Why is all this insistance on killing "quickly"? After all what did
> the neanderthal
> have more of than time. He certainly had a modocum of intelligence. Not
> all paleolithic Homosaps had bows and arrows. If you want to see
> "little"man vs. big animal watch a documentery of Bushmen in southern
> Africa killing elephants. In fact not just killing them but herding them
> to where the want them to die.
> IMO Neanderthal was a Homo adaptation to a cold climate.
> Short,compact, robust build to conserve body heat. (I can even emagine
> they all had small ears)
> And no doubt a comletely omniverous diet. (Anything that didn't eat them
> first.)
> Question! Do you know if anyone has ever done any comparison between
> the
> Neanderthals and the Innuit, Aleuts, and/or Siberian tribes? Lest this
> last be
> jumped on as racist; I haste to say that I firmly believe that we all have
> neanderthal
> genes.
>
>
> W. .F. Van Houten
> What evil shadows in the hearts of men ?
> The Lurker knows!
>
>
>
I didn't write the quote that you attributed to me. Paul Crowley wrote
it.
Steve Barnard
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