Film producer claims that neanderthals were orcs

[Tolpuddle Martyr]

This guy, an Australian film maker has concluded that because Neanderthals ate mostly meat and lived in a cold environment they were basically flesh-eating, rapey orcs!



<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbmywzGAVs" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZbmywzGAVs</a>

He also reckons that because a neanderthal skull, kinda-sorta to him looks chimp like that they must have looked like chimps.



Still a bit of a mystery about the cat eyes though!

[Random Gal]

If there's one thing I absolutely hate about science journalism, it's that the media give equal credibility to genuine scientists and armchair hacks who think they know everything.

[JohnE]

Someone's been watching too much 13th Warrior.

[nickiknack]

Does this mean that Hobbits and Elves existed once upon a time??

[SpaceProg]

The cat eyes are bothering me more than the whole calling 'Tals "Orcs".

I can't think of a humanoid ancestor that had cat eyes, or where they would pick them up, unless they went way way way way way back to the mammalian reptiles...  I dunno.  I'm not a palaeontologist.

[Random Gal]

The cat eyes are bothering me more than the whole calling 'Tals "Orcs".

I can't think of a humanoid ancestor that had cat eyes, or where they would pick them up, unless they went way way way way way back to the mammalian reptiles...  I dunno.  I'm not a palaeontologist.

I am, but soft tissues don't tend to fossilize a lot and I wouldn't know either. That said, cats are nowhere near primates on any analysis I've seen.

[JohnE]

Does this mean that Hobbits and Elves existed once upon a time??

Maybe

[Random Gal]

I've generally thought of Neanderthals as being more like Dwarves, with them being slightly shorter but much more sturdy than us.

Also, they had higher cranial capacity than modern humans and Orcs aren't known for being particularly bright.

[SpaceProg]

The cat eyes are bothering me more than the whole calling 'Tals "Orcs".

I can't think of a humanoid ancestor that had cat eyes, or where they would pick them up, unless they went way way way way way back to the mammalian reptiles...  I dunno.  I'm not a palaeontologist.

I am, but soft tissues don't tend to fossilize a lot and I wouldn't know either. That said, cats are nowhere near primates on any analysis I've seen.

Yeah, I'm more of a biology/zoology sort.  I do know a bit about prehistoric animals though since they cover bio and zoo, but not as much as a specified paleo would.

[Random Gal]

Apparently there are some prosimians (lemurs, etc.) that have cat-like eyes.

[Tolpuddle Martyr]

I've generally thought of Neanderthals as being more like Dwarves, with them being slightly shorter but much more sturdy than us.

Also, they had higher cranial capacity than modern humans and Orcs aren't known for being particularly bright.

Should clarify, the author didn't call them orcs but the picture he paints of Neanderthals as scary, hairy, rapist cannibals - that's orcs in my book.

He does show a bunch of pictures of fantastic monsters from myth and pop culture, orcs and Gollum are amongst these.

[SpaceProg]

Apparently there are some prosimians (lemurs, etc.) that have cat-like eyes.

I thought about those, but why would they have carried on to a diurnal non-tree-dwelling species like the Neanderthal?

Ahhh... I'm making something of nothing.  Guy doesn't know what he's talking about.  I'll leave it at that.

[Shane for Wax]

Apparently there are some prosimians (lemurs, etc.) that have cat-like eyes.

I thought about those, but why would they have carried on to a diurnal non-tree-dwelling species like the Neanderthal?

Ahhh... I'm making something of nothing.  Guy doesn't know what he's talking about.  I'll leave it at that.

No. They wouldn't have. By that time, humanoids were being more adapted to having eyes that were better at day than night.

They also were not much shorter than modern humans now. That's a bit of a myth that they were shorter. They were also stronger than modern humans.

Neanderthals also, despite claims to the contrary, were starting to nurture each other. There was a case of a healed femur fracture that had to be constantly cared for.

[The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist]

Weren't there genetic studies done that indicated that neanderthals had lighter complexions? Like this: http://s.ngm.com/2008/10/neanderthals/img/neanderthal-615.jpg

[SpaceProg]

I think so, since they developed in colder climes, but the artist is going for the "Scary gorilla" look.