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A 6 - year - sometime Neanderthal kid hadDown syndrome , a new analysis of an oddly shaped spike bone found in a cave in Spain suggest .
The finding is the first known typeface of Down syndrome inNeanderthals , our close human relatives that live in Eurasia from about 400,000 to 40,000 age ago . The fact that the child , nickname Tina , live into early puerility indicate that her Neanderthal group cared for her , providing evidence that Neanderthals engaged in selfless behavior .
A reconstruction of a Neanderthal group in a cave. A new study finds that Neanderthals cared for a child with Down syndrome.
" This child would have necessitate care for at least 6 age , in all probability necessitating other group appendage to assist the mother in childcare , " the research worker compose in a new study , release Wednesday ( June 26 ) in the journalScience Advances .
The spike bone was ab initio excavated in 1989 at Cova Negra ( Spanish for " Black Cave " ) in Xàtiva , a town in the state of Valencia , in 1989 . Other Neanderthal remains at the cave date to between 273,000 and 146,000 year ago . However , the bone — a shard of a temporal bone — was mixed with animal stiff and was n’t name until recently , the investigator said .
Related:‘More Neanderthal than human ' : How your health may reckon on DNA from our long - lost ancestors
The Neanderthal child’s temporal bone (left) from the and its 3D reconstruction (right).
The squad used micro - computerized tomography ( computed tomography ) to read the bone , which allowed them to produce a digital 3D model of it .
Tina ’s ear bone had an unorthodox human body that is consistent with Down syndrome , the squad found . It also had other unusual aspects , include a smaller cochlea and abnormalities with the lateral semicircular epithelial duct ( LSC ) , the myopic of the three ear canals , which , together , can make learn loss and severe vertigo , consort to astatement .
However , because the great unwashed with Down syndrome have an extra transcript of chromosome 21 , a genetic test would need to be done to say for trusted whether Tina really had the condition .
Side-by-side 3D models of Neanderthal inner ear bones show the Cova Negra fossil (left) with its unusual shape and the Kebara 1 fossil (right), which has a typical shape.
If she did , it ’s probable that Tina ’s term required care from multiple individuals in her group , the squad said .
It was already known that Neanderthalscared for ominous membersin their societal radical . However , all of the known cared- for individuals have been adults , so it was unclear whether Neanderthals cared only for those who could help them in take or whether they did it out of altruism .
give that a 6 - year - old with a challenging inherited condition would n’t have been able-bodied to help much in riposte , it ’s potential that the Neanderthals help her were altruistic , the squad say .
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" What was not lie with until now was any sheath of an individual who had received assistant , even if they could not return the favor , which would try out the existence of true selflessness among Neandertals , " study lead authorMercedes Conde , prof at the University of Alcalá in Spain enounce in astatement . " That is precisely what the find of ' Tina ' mean . "
The determination also has implications for modern humans .
" The presence of this complex social adaptation in both Neanderthals and our own species suggests a very ancient origin within the genusHomo , " the researchers write in the study .
