INTRODUCTION:
You have now watched all three episodes of “Becoming Human,” a documentary series on human evolution. In the previous module, we watched the first two episodes and in our introduction to the first episode there was a brief discussion of one of the claims presented, namely that research showed the brain of early hominins had similarities to human brains that living primates like chimpanzees do not. Remember from that discussion that the claims presented in the video were criticized in peer-reviewed research that came out after the video aired.
You have just completed watching the final episode of the series on Neanderthals and modern humans, “Last Human Standing.” However, when the documentary aired in 2009, the research on paleogenomics was only just starting and what the video claims is no longer current. Late in the episode the narrator states, “With no evidence of interbreeding, it now seems more likely that as our population grew, we simply pushed the Neanderthals out of their environments.” Paleogenomic research since this time paints a very different picture of what happened, not only with Neanderthals, but with a second species of hominins known as the Denisovans, who are described in this Leakey Foundation podcast you can listen to for free, LINK: (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-40-the-denisovans/id982555930?i=1000458172596). Svante Pääbo, the Swedish geneticist who appeared in “Last Human Standing” has led the paleogenomic research, and with his team has been responsible for the new discoveries. Many of the most significant findings since the “Becoming Human” documentary aired are discussed by Pääbo in this lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4TLaRSJN2k&t=22s
WRITING INSTRUCTIONS:
Watch and listen to Pääbo’s lecture above. He will review some of the important paleogenomic discoveries that occurred after “Last Human Standing” was made. As Pääbo goes through his research timeline, you will understand why the information in the “Becoming Human” documentary is wrong given what we now know. Although the lecture is intended for a general audience, some things he discusses will be challenging for you. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything in the lecture, just keep listening and he will cover the essential findings. Even more recently, Pääbo and co-author Hugo Zeberg have asserted a connection between severe COVID-19 cases and the Neanderthal genome, LINK: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2818-3
After you have finished listening to the lecture you will write a 700 word update on the what the genetics research on the Neanderthals and Denisovans now shows us about those species and about our own. In your response, you should answer the following series of questions:
– Who are the Neanderthals and the Denisovans?
– What does the “Last Human Standing ” documentary (THE DOCUMENTARY CAN BE FOUND ON GOOGLE) say about the paleogenetic research on Neanderthals and Denisovans? Why did the documentary get it wrong? What has happened since the documentary aired? Discuss some information from the lecture by Svante Pääbo to update the film.
– What does ancient DNA (aDNA) teach us about each of these species? Which human populations are they connected to?
– What can their genomes tell us about their population structures?
– What does this research show us about our own evolutionary trajectory as modern humans?
– Finally, use the internet to find a news article describing recent (2020-2021) paleogenetic research findings related to either Neanderthals or Denisovans. Describe the findings and explain why they are significant
As always, you are welcome to exceed the length requirement (your response should simply be more than 700 words long). When you are finished, place a word count at the bottom of your assignment that looks like this:
[768 Words]
You should use APA citations and references for any sources you use in your paper.
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