Evolution: more genomic evidence of pre-planning (Evolution)

by David Turell , Monday, February 15, 2021, 22:29 (1375 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: We appeared with different brains about 250,000 years after Neanderthals. Undoubtedly we had very different brain genes at that point. That they may have modified somewhat since our arrival is totally beside the point. We were never Neanderthal.

dhw: Neanderthals died out about 40,000 years ago, and interbred with sapiens. I’m asking when the 61 different sapiens genes might have appeared. I’m not saying we were once Neanderthal!

dhw: In any case, we have been over this a thousand times: nobody knows how brain changes occurred in the past. But we agreed that there was a long period of stasis between the arrival of the sapiens brain and the burst of activity that produced our current advanced civilization. This is consistent with the even longer periods of stasis that occurred between earlier stages of brain change. I have proposed that each brain change is the result of some new activity or requirement (as evidenced by changes that take place in the modern brain), whereas you propose your God stepped in and performed operations on groups of hominins and homos before they engaged in new activities. I really don’t know why we have to go over all this again.

DAVID: The point is preparatory changes in DNA.

dhw: The point is that sapiens has some genes that were not present in Neanderthal. Nobody says anything about “preparatory”. I’m trying to work out what the article is meant to prove. As far as our discussions are concerned, I have simply repeated and summarized the views already expressed on the whole subject.

But it only took 61 new genes to do the job. The article just proves the difference at the genetic level. And we learned to use the better brain much later than its appearance with those genes..