Essay: Scientific Theories on Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens Evolution

This essay explores the evolution of human understanding regarding Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, using Kuhn's model of scientific revolutions. The paper traces the shifts in scientific theories based on available evidence, highlighting the changing phylogenetic positions assigned to Neanderthals. It summarizes Kuhn's theory to explain the paradigm shifts in thinking about these species. The essay also discusses how Neanderthals have been perceived as human or non-human over time, drawing upon fossil evidence and research. The introduction sets the stage by outlining the essay's structure, emphasizing the significance of Neanderthals as an intelligent species that adapted to their environment, and referencing the use of stone tools and hunting practices. The essay considers evidence like the faunal remains from archaeological sites. The conclusion reinforces the idea that Neanderthals are closely related to humans, even if there are biological, ethnological, anthropological and linguistic differences. The essay references recent evidence from China and Asia, that challenges the widely accepted theory of when and how these species left Africa.

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Essay about Human Evolution
Introduction
This essay paper uses Kuhn’s model to find out how scientific theories about
Neanderthals changed from Homo sapiens. The essay tracks changes that are available in
evidence that led to changes in scientific theories about the evolutionary relationship between
Neanderthals and Homo sapiens during the twentieth century. Basing on the available evidence
the essay paper briefly summarizes the story of how scientific theories changed about
Neanderthals and Homo sapiens then summarizes how and when scientists changed the
phylogenic positions that were assigned to the link between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
Secondly, the essay summarizes Thomas S Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolutions by explaining
the changes in thinking about Neanderthals and Homo sapiens from Kuhn’s theories perspective.
Lastly, the essay concludes the extent to which Neanderthals have been regarded as human or
non-human over a while.
Neanderthal was the most intelligent species and successfully adapted to their
environment for many years. They are the longest non-modern humans known in science and are
commonly referred to as Homo Neanderthalensis (Kwang Hyun, 17). They generally used to
hunt and make tools out of stones and rocks. Various theories state that Neanderthal species are
close relatives to a human while Homo sapiens were more intelligent and wise. With several

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theories in place, it’s believed that Neanderthal and Homo sapiens are the later stage of human
evolution. Fossils found to indicate that they endured a lot of pain based on the fractures on the
bones of arms and the skull. There are several lines of evidence indicating that Neanderthals
were capable hunters whose diets were dominated by meat. First is the faunal evidence from
various sites, which indicates that they hunted and butchered red deer and many other species
(Muehlenbein & Michael, 45-67).
Kuhn was once fascinated with the process by which theories which somewhere true
were replaced by a different one which was also held to be true. In his theory, Kuhn presented
his views in a structure referred to as scientific revolutions. From his theory, he describes normal
science as a puzzle-solving activity that is conducted under a reigning paradigm (Richards,
Robert, and Lorraine, 2). According to him, puzzle-solving refers to the normal activity of
scientists that consists of issues which are believed in advance to have a solution only if enough
ingenuity and effort is brought to bear based on the paradigm as a guide. Also based on Kuhn,
anomaly arises when a puzzle is confirmed as vital in some way but the solution to it cannot be
undertaken (Devlin, William, and Alisa, 23-34). In other words, the anomaly cannot be written
off or solved.
In reference to Kuhn's this concept, the theories regarding Neanderthals and Homo
sapiens stipulate that each of these special species separately and individually adapted to its
surroundings. On the other hand, the discoveries about the fossil remains of these species by not
corresponding to any extinct species contradicted their main assumption of biology before
Darwin. Also, according to Neanderthals and Homo sapiens theories, most prominent scientific
theories that are linked to human evolution indicate that all these species came from one line, a
line that can be traced back to Africa region. According to these theories, some ancient

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wanderers left Africa of their own volition a bit earlier than the majority of others thus creating
new species of humans along the way (Kadowaki, Seiji, 59-91). These species include
Neanderthals, Homo Neanderthalensis and Denisovans. However, according to these theories,
these species eventually died out leaving only one species that is us, modern humans. Yet,
according to recent evidence from (Smith, 20923-20928), suggests that our predecessors may
have wandered out of Africa much earlier than expected. The recent evidence suggests that there
are new fossil remains emerging from Southeast Asia and China which calls into question, the
widely accepted theory of when and how these species left Africa. Indeed these fossils that were
recently evidenced from China and Asia are making scientists question the validity of this
Neanderthals and Homo sapiens theory.
There are indeed older hominin bones that have been evidenced in African, however as
suggested by Neanderthals and Homo sapiens evolution theory, they all lead to dead ends thus
they evolved solely in Africa. Yet the recent research on fossils that were evidenced from Asia
and china seems to throw a bit of wrench into this theory. According to this recent evidence, the
fossils which were described as the two teeth from Luna case in Guangxi Zhuang region, China
by Wei Wang, these fossils dated somewhere back between 70,000 and 125,000 years ago which
is a full 10000 years earlier than when the Neanderthals species were supposed to have left
Africa. Also, based on the proportions of the teeth, the scientists indicate that at least one of them
belongs to an early Homo sapiens and this recent research creates anomalies in Neanderthals and
Homo sapiens theories thus leading into crisis as described by Kuhn’s model of the scientific
revolution.

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Conclusion
Neanderthal was the most intelligent species and successfully adapted to their
environment for many years. They are the longest human species known in science and are
commonly referred to as Homo Neanderthalensis. In reference to recent pieces of evidence, there
are many incidences through which Neanderthals have been regarded as either human or non-
human. For instance, the analysis of Neanderthal's fossilized hyoid bone from the neck suggests
that the species could speak and this has been suspected since 1989 when this analysis was
evidenced. This research together with various analyses on Neanderthal suggests that
Neanderthals are the closest relative of humans thus considered as humans (Shea et al., 2-4). In
conclusion, Neanderthals have almost similar characteristics with normal human beings and the
only difference that can make them non-human is the difference in features of biological,
ethnological, anthropological and linguistic factors.

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Works Cited
Devlin, William J., and Alisa Bokulich, eds. Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions-50 years
on. Vol. 311. Springer, 2015.
Kadowaki, Seiji. "Issues of chronological and geographical distributions of Middle and Upper
Palaeolithic cultural variability in the Levant and implications for the learning behavior
of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens." Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern
Humans Volume 1. Springer, Tokyo, 2013. 59-91.
Kwang Hyun. "Hominin interbreeding and the evolution of human variation." Journal of
Biological Research-Thessaloniki 23.1 (2016): 17.
Muehlenbein, Michael P., ed. Human evolutionary biology. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Richards, Robert J., and Lorraine Daston, eds. Kuhn's' structure of scientific revolutions' at fifty:
Reflections on a science classic. University of Chicago Press, 2016.
Shea, John J., et al. "Homo sapiens is as Homo sapiens was: Behavioral variability versus
“behavioral modernity” in Paleolithic archaeology." Current anthropology 52.1 (2010):2-
4.
Smith, Tanya M., et al. "Dental evidence for ontogenetic differences between modern humans
and Neanderthals." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107.49 (2010):
20923-20928.