Archaeologist Ludovic Slimak, a researcher at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research and Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, unearthed evidence of teeth from a rock shelter in France’s Rhône Valley in 2015, which was identified to be that of a Neanderthal, a rare intact finding from that site.
Recently, archaeologists made the revelation of extracting DNA evidence from the teeth that could answer to the extinction of Neanderthals. The ancient ‘human’ in question was named Thorin after a character from The Hobbit . He remained a best-kept secret for the scientists involved because the researchers had yet to uncover what this evidence would entail.
Scientists Just Sequenced the DNA of Thorin The Last Neanderthal Ever And It Rewrites History
Slimak and his colleagues were reportedly caught in a bind regarding the nature of the evidence as the archaeological evidence stood against the scientific one. The genetic proof indicated that the Neanderthal was 105,000 years old. However, the archaeological context proved that it was somewhere between 40,000 to 50,000 years old. “What the DNA was suggesting was not in accordance with what we saw,” he added, as reported by CNN Science.
An ancient Neanderthal named Thorin may be one of the last members of a lost line of Neanderthals.@alisonge says DNA preserved in his teeth has been sequenced, suggesting Thorin may was part of a mysterious group that lived in isolation for 50,000 yearshttps://t.co/BpwUttS6BI pic.twitter.com/Jhn6YOHVcw
— New Scientist (@newscientist) September 14, 2024
Knewz.com noted that the revelation took ten years as researchers only recently identified the puzzle behind the disappearance of the Neanderthals 40,000 years ago. The journal Cell Genomics detailed the findings about Thorin, and it was found that it came from a group of Neanderthals that was isolated and had been separated from other groups for about 50,000 years, which is why Thorin’s DNA seemed to be from an earlier period than it originally was.
Live Science reported that the use of methods such as radiocarbon dating could prove Thorin to be one of the last Neanderthals. This puts into question the assumption that humans brought about the extinction of Neanderthals, but proof suggested that two separate colonies of Neanderthals that had no contact existed simultaneously nearby. The genetic and cultural isolation that was deciphered could bring about several other reasons for its extinction as isolation was considered to be an evolutionary disadvantage.
First and Only Neanderthal Remains Found at Abreda Cave in a World First!
April Nowell, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the University of Victoria in Canada, and a history enthusiast, stated that the evidence “supports the hypothesis that Neandertals living in small, socially isolated groups struggled to keep their numbers viable.” Omer Gokcumen, an evolutionary genomicist at the University at Buffalo also stated that “any hominin DNA from that time frame is interesting and adds to our knowledge.”
Genome of Neanderthal fossil reveals lost tribe cut off for millennia
Less genetic variation in the DNA could adapt to changing climate or disease more difficult, which is why the chemical isotopes in his bones and teeth were analyzed to infer the climate of his habitation based on the water and food consumed. Information from Thorin’s genes and the place of the extraction adds to a better understanding and knowledge among historians of the Neanderthals’ final days on the planet, as noted by the Smithsonian Magazine. Additionally, the DNA analysis also suggested a third unidentified population of Neanderthals that was roaming around Europe at about the same time as Thorin’s group and the study authors have written about this for write for the Conversation.
Jeff K
Fascinating.
Key Word: “two separate colonies of Neanderthal that had no contact, existed simultaneously nearby”.