Fossil record

[jlay]

Maybe Neanderthals and Ostriches are related.

[CliffsofBurton]

Sure. But have you ever seen a human come close?

[cslewislover]

Neanderthal's are an interesting topic.

My 12th grade anthropology teacher made a terrific comment, one which I ridiculed him mercilessly for the rest of the year.

He said that, "Neanderthals, from observation of their skeletal structure, were able to chase down deer."

I didn't believe that. I have never seen any animal on 2 legs move as fast as 50 miles an hour, which was the speed I was driving across a wheat field, and the deer were actually GETTING FARTHER AWAY FROM ME.

I saw we were talking about neanderthals, and I remembered that. Just thought it was funny.

I was trying to find out about this, and the things I came across said that they had very strong legs and their structure indicated endurance, yet they also said they probably didn't run much. Some sources even say that our human ancestors faired better beause they could run. So I wonder where your teacher got that info? It could be, based on what I've read so far, that it was conjectured that they could run fast for a short time. But 50 miles an hour does seem far-fetched for a hominid.

[CliffsofBurton]

I was bored with school. I failed Anthropology because i found that the teacher was not suited for the job. He was an ancient history major, not an anthropologist. I do not doubt that perhaps Neanderthals could run more quickly than you or I for short burst, but I couldn't sit there and listen to him yammer on about how they could chase down deer, especially after seeing how fast deer can react, run. and disappear before I could even summon a thought to take them.

He was talking out of the wrong end, I think, because I have never heard any other claims like this. I have always, since then, heard the first idea you mentioned, about how they rarely ran. Some researchers even think they might have been incapable of running. It's really a topic that is up in the air, but something inside tells me they couldn't keep up with a deer, especially with those stubby little legs. LOL.

[zoegirl]

Speed is about the stride of the animal (how much ground their leap in the running stage covers) and the force in their leap. AS animals increase their speed, their stride length increases. Most animals with great speed also have anatomy that allows them to stretch and increase their stride length.

We come nohere close to running down a deer, unless the issue is an ambush, which then, perhaps might be plausible.