Did Neanderthals hibernate?

Yawn!
Still feeling sleepy?
It could be your Nanderthal genes:

MADRID, SPAIN—According to a report in The Guardian, an international team of researchers suggests that Neanderthals and other early hominins may have had the ability to hibernate. Juan-Luis Arsuaga of Complutense University of Madrid and Antonis Bartsiokas of Democritus University of Thrace say that lesions on 400,000-year-old Neanderthal fossils recovered from Atapuerca’s Sima de los Huesos cave resemble those seen on the remains of hibernating mammals. Such lesions are caused by disruptions in bone development brought on by limited food and reduced metabolic states. The remains of a hibernating cave bear have also been recovered from Sima de los Huesos, the researchers explained. Mammals would not have been able to survive on the limited food supply available during the harsh winters in northern Spain at the time

www.archaeology.org...

a reply to: halfoldman

They still do!

Actually I think they did, especially in the worst of the ice-age winters.

I can't speak for 200 000 years of Neanderthal existence, but for a part of it yeah, it makes very good sense actually.

How did they decide that these bone lesions are form hibernation and not just normal near starvation during winter? Both occure because of limited food intake.

a reply to: halfoldman

Interesting idea and good find, so S&F.

Strange article though because kind of disputes itself...

But critics point out that there may be other explanations for the bone lesions, and that large-bodied mammals—including bears—cannot lower their core temperatures far enough to reach a state of actual technical hibernation. Instead, they enter a state of torpor, which is marked by less deep sleep. In such a state, big-brained hominins like Neanderthals would have continued to require a great deal of energy to survive.

a reply to: halfoldman




Yes the rumors are true.

Just wanted to add there is legend that our people (Koreans) came from Bears..
E Asians have the most Neanderthal DNA in their genes.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I had no idea about that and actually thought it was Europeans that had the most but you are absolutely correct, Europeans are in second place and Africans in third.

The population with the most Denisovan DNA are apparently also east Asian with the strongest apparently being among found among the population of the Philippines, there is a famous child skeleton that was found in southern Europe is evidence of when the two races of man mixed, likely it happened many times and is just further proof that the Neanderthals (and probably the Denisovans too) were just another now vanished version of humanity.
docuwiki.net...

Not sure about the Denisovans but the later races of the Neanderthals actually often had very large brains indeed but there metabolic rate is thought to have been very high with them being much more muscular and stronger boned than modern humans meaning they had to eat far more than modern humans do.

Given that I doubt they hibernated as if they did it would have meant them having to hunt much more to build up fat reserves before hibernating, that large brain also needed a lot of nutrition so it would also taxed those fat reserves if they had hibernated, basically I think those bone lesions are most likely as beyondknowledge points out due to malnutrition (but I am definitely no expert on anthropology or for that matter anything ha).

But it is possible despite that, if it was once possible it may once again become possible and that is something the likes of NASA would find very tantalizing indeed.

So now we want to lay in sleep pods travelling to the stars. Hibernation, in fact.

originally posted by: Dionysaur
So now we want to lay in sleep pods travelling to the stars. Hibernation, in fact.

Let me guess...

Recreational marijuana is ok'd in your state and you simply had to reply?

Alternatively, it could be meth... In which case, get help.

The quoted post serves as an example that perhaps Neanderthals never actually expired. Look Ma! We're alive and well.

Consequences for humans unknown, but it is known that a bear (for example) taken out of hibernation is very dangerous.

www.thevintagenews.com...

Well that's why in Neanderthal days you got married at 6.

That's my Neanderthal lad getting all spotty and into Iron Maiden at 4.

One day you'll be forty, and looking back over your life.

Thinking how long have I lived?

Mammoths and woolly rhino's I've eaten.

originally posted by: halfoldman
Well that's why in Neanderthal days you got married at 6.

That's my Neanderthal lad getting all spotty and into Iron Maiden at 4.

One day you'll be forty, and looking back over your life.

Thinking how long have I lived?

Mammoths and woolly rhino's I've eaten.

Methinks that "daai papegaai slaai het jou hard gemoer".
Sober up and then try again. Your OP is interesting. Your follow up posts are indicative of substance abuse.

a reply to: Kreeate

I don't care what my posts are indicative of.
I use substances, alcohol and ganja.
Never made a secret of it.

originally posted by: halfoldman
Consequences for humans unknown, but it is known that a bear (for example) taken out of hibernation is very dangerous.

www.thevintagenews.com...

I have to say that trying to take a bear any where would be dangerous.
Please don't try this at home.

a reply to: halfoldman

Quite possible, many ancient human populations thought they were descendants of bears, and you can still find remnants of those beliefs in skandinavia,siberia,far eastern islands,korea, and japan. There is evidence that ancient humans and cave bears occupied the same caves at the same time.

Many mammal species hibernate, so why not.

"Tomorrow winter starts, flip bro what a nice little nest you dug for yourself.
Can i be your hibernation buddy"?

"Mmmm, OK, but you get in head first and I'll get in feet first".

Hibernation should never be awkward.

Just thinking of Clan of the Cave Bear, both the epic prehistoric fictional novel by Jean M. Auel, and the 1980's movie adaption.

I think we'd need to change the plot here, if hibernation for Neanderthals was proven (and my OP sources suggest it might well be, at least during phases of Neanderthal existence).

Yawn ... OK, we're all going to hibernate.

But now we adopted this Cro-Magnon girl, and she's not going to hibernate.
What's she going to do all winter?
Just leave some crayons, besides, it's always great to wake up in spring totally deloused, and all our body hair is in little braids, and there's pictures all over the cave walls.
Just Ayla ... don't touch the men's things, especially not their slings.

Anyway - time for the pre-hibernation party.
Yeah, we like our berry-juice extra dusty!

So they found some bones with some lesions on them, which are comparable to lesions found on animals that hibernate?

The first thing they jump to is that neanderthals hibernated?

Not the logical conclusion that this dude starved to death?

I dunno about you, but every survival show I've seen ends up with people doing nothing but laying around when there isn't enough food...

"Neanderthals" have a higher cranial capacity than the average human today. This alone disproves the baseless notion that these were moronic cavemen

I wonder if they hibernated in the Winter, or the Summer?

The Summer might actually make more sense. In the Fall as you enter Winter you could kill a whole bunch of megafauna and bring them to near your cave. Each mammoth if 5 tons of food. "Nature's refrigerator" would preserve the meat so you have plenty to eat for the Winter months.

But during Summer, you've basically got to kill an animal every week, and let the uneaten parts of the carcass spoil.

Neanderthals hunted in smaller groups than Sapiens, so the food loss due to spoilage would be terrible in the Summer. They'd be lucky to be able to eat a quarter of the meat in time to save it.