Controversial Theory Says Modern Man is a Descendant of the Neanderthals

Did modern man live side by side with the Neanderthal, or evolve from him?

Scientific belief has for a long time now held that humans evolved out of Africa, slowly making our way “out of Africa” in waves. Having just finished The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, I remember a section which depicted the early man, looking out over the crest of a ravine and seeing the greener grass on the other side.

From there, speculation leads us to believe that we essentially invaded the rest of the planet, working our way steadily outwards. This theory also lends itself to the downfall of the North American and Australian mega-fauna as theorized by Paul S. Martin. He believes that the extinction of so many of the species – Wooly Mammoth, saber toothed tiger, etc – were wiped out, hunted in to extinction by early man, craving food or warmth from their skins.

But Eugène Morin, an anthropology professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, has put forth an alternative theory, lending our existence to an evolution from the Neanderthal.

Morin’s theory posits that instead of evolving out of Africa, and overwhelming the Neanderthal populations of Europe, that we are a result of several evolutionary bottlenecks, forced as a result of a dramatic cooling 40,000 years ago in Europe.

Published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the theory is one that has raised eyebrows and many questions amongst his peers.

Full article here:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/01/is-modern-man-d.html