Monday, September 22, 2008

DNA-Based Neanderthal Face Unveiled

Meet Wilma -- named for the redheaded Flintstones character -- the first model of a Neanderthal based in part on ancient DNA evidence.

Artists and scientists created Wilma (shown in a photo released yesterday) using analysis of DNA from 43,000-year-old bones that had been cannibalized. Announced in October 2007, the findings had suggested that at least some Neanderthals would have had red hair, pale skin, and possibly freckles.

(Via Aberrant News.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Neanderthal or modern day trailer trash?

Anonymous said...

I think they are making some rather unkind assumptions about poor Wilma. They seem to have gone out of their way to make her look like a witch. The reconstruction can yield an approximation of facial features, but I wonder whose idea it was to screw up her skin and hair so badly. Unfair I think, and I believe she would agree.

Michael