Nice "Info-parody" Patrick... wonder why no one is 1-bombing you??? J/K! Anyway, I never bought evolution b/c all life comes from existing life. The chicken and egg nonsense is ridiculous b/c the egg is an object of reproduction of the original species and can NEVER be first!!! So who created the chicken? God or another Higher Intelligence (ie Aliens)! For all the fossil record, where are the transitional lifeforms and the missing link between the animal kingdom and man? Nothing found b/c they never existed and many of the fossil evidence has been cobbled together from different parts of the world and yet presented as if they were dug-up complete (exception of Mammoths which are very much like elephants on steroids)! Basically, evolution is asking you to wait around long enough and there will be a spontaneous major event that will move the universe forward or back! Gee, that takes MORE faith than in God!!! All of this magnificent earth, life, and diversity are downgraded to chance. No way. Btw, Archaeopteryx, the first semi-bird was found in what would become Germany and the Neanderthals now have music and symbology in their art! One of those early depictions is of a bird to worship- pre-Adler!!! 555!!!

A creature must be adapted to its environment or it will perish. If it isn't, then it's too late to change. As you said, where are the missing links and transitional species? Now it is said that people of Northern European ancestry carry some Neanderthal genes. Those of African or Asian origin usually have less, but still some. Neanderthal are just an example of human diversity, perfectly capable of interbreeding with homo sapiens, just as people of different races today can produce offspring of various colors, hair, height, and other physical characteristics. There are still people today living in caves. That must have been even more common at the times the Roman, Chinese, Aztec, Japanese and other "early" civilizations flourished. Most mutations tend to be harmful. Interbreeding between different species, if it even happens, such as horses and donkeys, produce offspring that are sterile. Neanderthal were capable of passing their genes through fertile offspring with homo sapiens, therefore Neanderthal were indeed human. Perhaps they were outnumbered, or they were conquered, dominated by a more advanced group. This happened to many Native people in North America. The Wyandotte people, first modern settlers of Kansas City, Kansas were all but wiped out by Euro-American wars and diseases. They also adopted white and some African people into the tribe to maintain their numbers and replace lost family providers. There are no "pure" Wyandotte today, but they still maintain a community and culture, based on a shared past. That is likely what happened to the Neanderthal. I've noticed that fewer parodies are being posted anymore, except perhaps Monday. And very little commentary. Maybe AIR is devolving.

I don't think the ancestors of the current inhabitants of the African continents interbred with Neanderthals at all, as there are no fossil remains of Neandethals in Africa at all. Seems to me, the Neanderthals were a cold climate adaptation, or perhaps mutation, as they were thicker in body mass and lived at the upper reaches of the snow and glacier line in Eurasia. That would mean they didn't tolerate heat well, which may have played a role in their demise

Lack of heat tolerance and resistance to tropical bacteria were major factors limiting the colonial ambitions of north European peoples in Africa and Southeast Asia, until they developed the technology to survive and flourish.