Neanderthal+Article

You are going to read a science related article. 1.) Read the text completely through once to gain an overall understanding of the article. 2.) The second time you read, you will investigated a little closer. As you read the article through this time you will need to complete the following: ==**European Neanderthals Were On the Verge of Extinction Even Before the Arrival of Modern Humans**== ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2012) — New findings from an international team of researchers show that most Neanderthals in Europe died off around 50,000 years ago. The previously held view of a Europe populated by a stable Neanderthal population for hundreds of thousands of years up until modern humans arrived must therefore be revised.
 * Find unfamiliar content words and turn them green . //Copy them into the voculary chart below that you have copied and pasted.//
 * Sentences that hold the main idea of important facts turn them orange.
 * After each paragraph, write a summary of what the paragraph was mostly about and type it in red.
 * Answer the following questions at the end of the article in blue

This new perspective on the Neanderthals comes from a study of ancient DNA published February 25 in //Molecular Biology and Evolution//.

The results indicate that most Neanderthals in Europe died off as early as 50,000 years ago. After that, a small group of Neanderthals recolonised central and western Europe, where they survived for another 10,000 years before modern humans entered the picture. The study is the result of an international project led by Swedish and Spanish researchers in Uppsala, Stockholm , and Madrid.
 * Summary:** Neanderthals died of because of humans.

“The fact that Neanderthals in Europe were nearly extinct but then recovered, and that all this took place long before they came into contact with modern humans came as a complete surprise to us. This indicates that the Neanderthals may have been more sensitive to the dramatic climate changes that took place in the last Ice Age than was previously thought”, says Love Dalén, associate professor at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. In connection with work on DNA from Neanderthal fossils in Northern Spain, the researchers noted that the genetic variation among European Neanderthals was extremely limited during the last ten thousand years before the Neanderthals disappeared.
 * Summary:** Humans didn't cause neanderthals first extinction and neanderthals were sensitive to dry climate.

Older European Neanderthal fossils, as well as fossils from Asia, had much greater genetic variation, on par with the amount of variation that might be expected from a species that had been abundant in an area for a long period of time. “The amount of genetic variation in geologically older Neanderthals as well as in Asian Neanderthals was just as great as in modern humans as a species, whereas the variation among later European Neanderthals was not even as high as that of modern humans in Iceland”, says Anders Götherström, associate professor at Uppsala University. Inaccurate, what about variation differences? The results presented in the study are based entirely on severely degraded DNA, and the analyses have therefore required both advanced laboratory and computational methods. The research team has involved experts from a number of countries, including statisticians, experts on modern DNA sequencing and a paleoanthropologist from Denmark, Spain and the US. Only when all members of the international research team had reviewed the findings could they feel certain that the available genetic data actually reveals an important and previously unknown part of Neanderthal history. “This type of interdisciplinary study is extremely valuable in advancing research about our evolutionary history. DNA from prehistoric people has led to a number of unexpected findings in recent years, and it will be really exciting to see what further discoveries are made in the coming years”, says Juan Luis Arsuaga, professor of human paleontology at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid.
 * Summary:** There were many neanderthals before they almost extinct after that there was less than a 1/4 of Neanderthals.
 * Summary:** The study in the found in the article are based on DNA found by many scientists.

=**Post Article Questions: //Use Complete Sentences//**= = = =**Vocabulary**=
 * 1. What limited the neanderthals ability to adapt to its environment?** The genetic variation among European Neanderthals was extremely limited. ok
 * 2. Based upon your notes and what Mr. Schraufstetter has taught you, What might have caused Neanderthals to go extinct?** A lack of genetic variation.. cro-maganon
 * 3. From what you learned, What might have caused the Neanderthals to recover from near extinction with their population?** A great amount of genetic variation. (which population, eary or later. Need to be more specific.)
 * 4. What advantage did older neanderthals in asia and europe have over the most recnet neanderthals?** They had a greater amount of genetic variation. Need to stop using pronouns. They = Neanderthals?
 * 5. What clue about evolution helped scientists detremine these findings?** Variation. No sentence?
 * **Word** || **Definition** || **Picture** || **Sentence** ||
 * Heat || The transfer of warmer matter to cooler matter. ||  || The heat caused the water in the pot to boil. ||   ||
 * Paleoanthropologist || A branch of anthropology dealing with fossil hominids. ||
 * Interdisciplinary || Involving two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines ||  ||


 * **Possible points** || **1** || **2** || **3** || **Max** **Points** **= 3** ||
 * **Questions** || Answered || Answered completely with errors || Answered with complete sentences accurately || 2 ||
 * **Summary** || Described || Described with errors || Described accurately with few errors || 2 ||
 * **Main Idea** || Highlighted || Highlighted correctly sometimes || Highlighted correctly with few errors || 3 ||
 * **Vocabulary** || 1 term || 2 terms with chart || 2 terms + with chart, sentence and definitions || 2 ||
 * **Total Points** ||  ||   ||   || 9/12 ||


 * Teachers Note: Jordan your effort needs to improve. Disappointed. 75% **