• LaughingLion [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      scientifically neanderthals are not humans

      when they existed so did humans; they were two different species of hominid

      a coworker of mine has a masters in anthropology so i could ask her i guess shes the only person i know with real expertise on the subject

        • LaughingLion [any, any]@hexbear.net
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          1 year ago

          Anything with “homo” in front of it will sometimes be called human by some anthros and biologists. They don’t like the distinction between human and non-human bc they think it makes people think other homo species are less than. Kind of like saying a second cousin isn’t family. I don’t personally subscribe to that belief. Human has a specific meaning, and they’re using it in the esoteric “my humanity” sort of way and not in the actual definition kind of way. So I don’t call anyone but homo sapiens humans. And a lot of the “all homo species are humans” people think we have delineated too many separate species in our taxonomy. Some of em don’t acknowledge that Neanderthals are a separate species and instead call them homo sapiens neanderthalensis rather than homo neanderthalensis.

          shes a cool friend

          so anyways i guess there is some grey area like its a conesus that they aren’t human but there are anthros out there that will call them humans anyways and its kind of not like whether or not the earth is flat or round (its actually hollow)