Instructions: On the below are three student generated arguments for the con-side of the hypothesis that ancient AM humans interbred with Neanderthals in Europe and Asia. Your assignment is to take a side: pro or con. There really is no middle ground either we have evidence of breeding or we do not. It can’t be that you think ancestral humans maybe bred with Neanderthals but there is not enough evidence for it. YOU MUST TAKE A SIDE!
PRO-SIDE: Refute the arguments below with evidence. The paper you turn in will be each of the following paragraphs followed by a paragraph explaining the evidence that refutes this argument.
OR
CON-SIDE: Each of your three paragraphs (the evidence you have for the pro-side) followed by a paragraph that refutes the evidence you presented.
6 paragraphs no more! It do not want an introduction or conclusion section. It just want you to present the evidence that you believe discredits the evidence presented in the earlier paper (below or was yours). You may quote the three paragraphs directly. The original writing is in each paragraph that follows the original paragraph. If you do not understand please ask for clarification. We do not have time to rewrite these.
Argument No.1 - Spatially explicit model shows no evidence of admixture between Eurasians and Neanderthals.
Argument No.2 – Genetic and morphological evidence points to no interbreeding between the modern Eurasians and Neanderthals.
Argument No.3 – Admixture model points to very little (<0.1%) interbreeding between the modern Eurasians and Neanderthals.
References:
1) Relethford, J.H., Genetic Evidence and the Modern Human Origins Debate. Heredity. 2008, 100,555-563.
2) Eriksson, A.; Manica, A. Effect of Ancient Population Structure on the Degree of Polymorphism shared between Modern Human Populations and Ancient Hominins. PNAS. 2012, 109, 35, 13956-13960.
3) Currat, M.; Excoffier, L. Modern Humans Did Not Admix with Neanderthals during Their Range Expansion into Europe. PLoS Biology. 2004, 2, 12, e421.