Changes

[[Young Earth Creationism|Young Earth Creationists]] believe that Neanderthals were as fully human as we are.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/worthy-ancestors</ref> This is based on evidence such as:

[[Young Earth Creationism|Young Earth Creationists]] believe that Neanderthals were as fully human as we are.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n2/worthy-ancestors</ref> This is based on evidence such as:

* The brain size of neanderthal meets or exceeds that of humans today.

* The brain size of Neanderthal meets or exceeds that of modern humans.

* There is no evidence to suggest that Neanderthals could '''not''' speak like modern humans.

* There is no evidence to suggest that Neanderthals could '''not''' speak like modern humans.

* The skeletons of humans and neanderthal are identical in bone count and types. The size differences between the two can be seen today in humans.

* The skeletons of modern humans and Neanderthal are identical in bone count and types. The size differences between the two can be seen today in humans.

* DNA evidence shows neanderthalvery similar to humans.

* DNA evidence shows Neanderthals to be very similar to humans.

The Institute for Creationist Research also wrote the following:

The Institute for Creation Research explains about the DNA evidence:

{{cquote|The recent recovery of mitochondrial DNA from the right humerus of the Neanderthal remains from Neander Valley near Dusseldorf, Germany, has been of great interest to evolutionists and creationists alike (Krings et al., 1997). Based on the comparison of modern human mt DNA and that taken from the Neanderthal, evolutionists have argued that the "Neanderthal line" diverged from the line of "hominids" leading to modern humans about 600,000 years B.P. without contributing mt DNA to modern Homo sapiens populations. This strongly implies that Neanderthals were a different species from modern humans. However, the above noted interpretation is not scientifically justified. Lubenow (1998) has pointed out that the use of a statistical average of a large modern human sample (994 sequences from 1669 modern humans) compared with the mt DNA sequence from one Neanderthal is not appropriate. Furthermore, the mt DNA sequence differences among modern humans range from 1 to 24 substitutions, with an average of eight substitutions, whereas, the mt DNA sequence differences between modern man and the Neanderthal specimen range from 22 to 36 substitutions, placing Neanderthals, at worst, on the fringes of the modern range. <ref>http://www.icr.org/article/468/</ref>

{{cquote|The recent recovery of mitochondrial DNA from the right humerus of the Neanderthal remains from Neander Valley near Dusseldorf, Germany, has been of great interest to evolutionists and creationists alike (Krings et al., 1997). Based on the comparison of modern human mt DNA and that taken from the Neanderthal, evolutionists have argued that the "Neanderthal line" diverged from the line of "hominids" leading to modern humans about 600,000 years B.P. without contributing mt DNA to modern Homo sapiens populations. This strongly implies that Neanderthals were a different species from modern humans. However, the above noted interpretation is not scientifically justified. Lubenow (1998) has pointed out that the use of a statistical average of a large modern human sample (994 sequences from 1669 modern humans) compared with the mt DNA sequence from one Neanderthal is not appropriate. Furthermore, the mt DNA sequence differences among modern humans range from 1 to 24 substitutions, with an average of eight substitutions, whereas, the mt DNA sequence differences between modern man and the Neanderthal specimen range from 22 to 36 substitutions, placing Neanderthals, at worst, on the fringes of the modern range. <ref>http://www.icr.org/article/468/</ref>}}

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Harsh conditions due to the [[Ice Age]] after the [[flood|Great flood]] caused human groups to migrate and splinter off to survive.  Neanderthal type traits were best suited for the harsh cold.  Malnutrition and longer life spans could cause features similar to those seen in Neanderthal skeletons. <ref>Neanderthals are still human [http://www.icr.org/article/468/]</ref>

Harsh conditions due to the [[Ice Age]] after the [[flood|Great flood]] caused human groups to migrate and splinter off to survive.  Neanderthal type traits were best suited for the harsh cold.  Malnutrition and longer life spans could cause features similar to those seen in Neanderthal skeletons. <ref>Neanderthals are still human [http://www.icr.org/article/468/]</ref>