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Neanderthals Demise

Sun Nov 08 13:28:25 GMT 2009 by Brian Johnson

I was under the impression that a virus like the common cold or measles brought by h. sapiens wiped out the neanderthals

Neanderthals Demise

Mon Nov 09 01:47:52 GMT 2009 by Dann

Based on what evidence?

Viral infections rarely leave any trace on the bones (if at all), and finding viral DNA would be unlikely even if a neanderthal *did* die from a virus. Even if you could detect viral DNA fragments in the remains, there's no way to be sure that the neanderthal in question actually died from the virus it was carrying.

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