Do you have Neanderthal DNA?

Have you ever looked at a person who's face was so striking that you had to stare for a moment? Maybe not out of sheer beauty, but because their features called back to a time before Homo Sapiens Sapiens became the dominating species on Earth?

Today while at an appointment I came across a man who's face so resembled what the average person would think of as a Neanderthal that my eyebrows raised with surprise. His forehead had an undeniable slant, and his brow ridge was as prominent as I've seen. I was fascinated. Truth be told, I have an odd fascination with people's faces, and I love the diversity in them.

Over the course of the day, I started thinking about this leftover DNA, and why it chooses to present itself in different people. According to National Geographic, today's humans of European and Asian decent have between 1 and 4% Neanderthal DNA.

Some humans we all might recognize who seem to have more dominant "Neanderthal genes" are :


Ron Perlman, whose strong facial features remind me of what our ancestors might have looked like.


Rick Aviles, his strong brow and deep set eyes certainly look prehistoric.


Last but not least, Nikolai Valuev, a Russian boxer (The Beast from the East) who a lot of ATS member might be familiar with. Nikolai is one of the most striking cases of Neanderthal looks that I've come across.

Do any members of ATS believe they have stronger than average Neanderthal genes? Is it in your face; or do the genes present themselves as some sort of prehistoric "feeling"? Are you proud of these genes (I think you should be), and do your parents or family members present the same sort of Neanderthal qualities? Are you more attracted to other humans who might have a higher percentage of Neanderthal DNA?

I'm fascinated by the subject today, so if you have a bit of time to indulge me, please do.

I dont think that this DNA is as obvious as your examples here. Prehumans were all kinda harsh looking beings.
In me i most likely have that gene as my country were listed in research. Most of us have blue eyes but we are not that ugly as your pictures are.

a reply to: Atsbhct

No...I do not have neanderthal DNA...but I have seen people (where I live in Seattle) that do...it is like they have stepped through a time portal from the cave man days...into this time now.

a reply to: caladonea

How do you know? studies say my country has that and are you saying finns are ugly?

originally posted by: dollukka
a reply to: caladonea

How do you know? studies say my country has that and are you saying finns are ugly?

No...I am not saying Finns are ugly...in fact I am not saying anyone is ugly...I like different looking people...they are more interesting to me.

It seems to me you are looking for someone to argue with...I'm not the one...peace out.

a reply to: caladonea

I was saying that all prehumans were harsh looking. And features have toned down as these genes are not prominant anymore.
Maybe these examples shown doesnt even have those genes at all.
Looks like Neanderthals, has been used a lot as an insult ever since first of its kind was found

a reply to: dollukka

Thank you for explaining further what you mean...I appreciate that.

a reply to: Atsbhct

Had a band roadie/bodyguard who was big, bulky, hugely unattractive (sorry Dickie), pigeon toed with a hairlip and lisped. We thought he was neanderthal in 1969!

He could carry a refrigerator by himself...or washer and dryer. Once he saved my singer n me from a bar fight carrying each of us in one arm...and while diung so...kicked a guy down a flight of stairs.

Never dropped us. We wondered then if there isnt some traces of that dna in some isolated pockets of society.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I would love to borrow that guy for a night.

The Europeans average a bit more Neandertal than Asians. The within-population differences between individuals are large, and constitute noise as far as our comparisons between populations are concerned.

At present, we can take as a hypothesis that Europeans have more Neandertal ancestry than Asians. If this is true, we can further guess that Europeans may have mixed with Neandertals as they moved into Europe, constituting a second process of population mixture beyond that shared by European and Asian ancestors.

John haws Web Blog

So most likely all of us have some.
We are all mixed, more or less.
You can blame ancient females for choosing strong and capable neanderthal guys who were able to protect and hunt. This trait is still quite strong in females, specially when they are young.. Muscles talk.

I've been told I look very much like Ron Perlman there, was he the one in City of Lost Children? If so, when my kids first saw him they turned to each other, looked at me and both gasped lol.

Not sure about neamderthal DNA, I just though I fell out of the ugly tree as a baby lol.

CX.

a reply to: Atsbhct

3.4% Neanderthal DNA according to 23andme. I am female, 5'3" (ish), blonde, brown eyed, with large but deep-set eyes and (thankfully) no brow ridge and a high forehead, but a lot of muscle in my face (jaw and eyebrows). I am small boned and usually around 110 lbs or less but I tend to pack on muscle if I am not careful. For example, after an intense summer of starting ground work on young horses I had some huge arms after just a few months, with definition that my husband was jealous of. It was not cool. Also I am well... fuzzy, I darn near have a pelt on my arms if I leave it, but it's very blonde so it can be hard to see until you get close. Thank god for Nair and tweezers that's all I can say.

a reply to: Atsbhct

Do any members of ATS believe they have stronger than average Neanderthal genes?

I do in fact have a very pronounced supraorbital ridge and another ridge across the top of my head (sagittal).



P.S. Yes, I suppose that is some sort of cry for help on my part.

I don't look at all Neanderthal, apart from bluish eyes and I have light olive skin, not hirsute, average muscle gain for a woman, no brow ridge, fairly deep set eyes, slight golden reddish tint to natural hair colour. Though I am of European origin so likely to have a percentage.

Some men are totally Neanderthal in appearance, stocky, rounded shoulders, inverted triangle shape, brow ridge, covered in hair, small eyes, muscular, and sometimes a grunting type personality, and some are very strong, I have often been amazed at the ability of some removal men to carry really heavy things.

I prefer taller, not feminine, but refined whilst being masculine men.

You can take the national geographic genome genetic test for about 200.00 and find out everything.

I'm pretty sure I do. During my teen years, I received dental services at a university dental school. I was told (and used as an example) that I have a classic, bony ridge (in mouth) that is a Neanderthal trait. I've always wanted to do the actual genetic testing (unaffordable for me currently)

I am 5'1", small frames, natural black hair (tho premature gray and colored hair), blue eyes. I do have a strong jawline (sq shaped face) and a high forehead. My ancestry is Northern European.

a reply to: Atsbhct

I was in line at LGA airport and was behind Ron Perlman and I think his parents. I recognized him, but couldn't remember his name, what he was in or anything. So you solved a mystery for me.

a reply to: fenian8

Small add to another nights gig (shouldn't say where but it was Mercy College in Detroit about '72-73)...out in the chair waiting after the show, he passed me with a variety of things...amplifier, pa cabs (2), 4-5 drum set pieces, 4 monitors...cigarette machine...guitar cases...candy machine...he STOLE those 2 machines from the college! Carried out by himself! This guy was Neanderthal to the max! We weren't gonna argue with him!

A few days later, after the band's house we all shared emptied the cigs, candy and $$$...he put the machines out in FRONT OF THE HOUSE for regular trash pickup!

Nothing like a flash sign indicator saying "Hey POLICE? Dickie stole these from our last gig!"

We were upset with him...so he dragged both the cig and candy machine down and around the block to some other house. I think we got like $30-40 bucks in change and a ton of candy and cig packs.

We kinda just let him control us with things like moving, shipping, driving and protection. Besides. Who would want to argue with a real life Neanderthal???!

a reply to: Atsbhct

You sort of answer your own queston (the subject line) here with the fact that if you are from an ancestry that hails from above the Sahara desert, you will have DNA in common with Homo neanderthalus you might have another extinct hominid too, Denisovian. All joking aside, we are not going to exhibit many Neanderthalian traits with that small a % of DNA in common.

I'm pretty sure my brothers and myself are at least 25% Neanderthal. It's Dad's fault.