Mood:  happy

I am not a scientist.  I did fairly well in science in school and have always been interested but I found out in college that the teaching best suited to my type of learning was not the type of teaching that usually occurred in a science classroom.  Thus, all of my scientific explorations and contemplations have been done in my own way.  Bear with me then, as I hypothesize based on news about scientists testing early human bones to find out if modern man was a mix of early humans and neanderthals. 

As I remember, in science class so long ago, it was impressed upon me that early humans and Neanderthals were two different species.  At that time the idea of modern humans coming from a mix of the two was considered ludicrous--even though I thought it made the most sense.  One of the much used refutations of the intermixing idea was that two species cannot have fertile offspring.  

Well, apparently, the idea of intermixing has been more and more entertained since I was in science class due to some skulls that seem to be a perfect blending of the two species.  With the new and improved DNA testing and an uncontaminated sample of an early human, scientists have affirmed that the DNA shows no intermixing.

That was a long intro to get to my thoughts, but bear with me please.  My question is:  did the uncontaminated sample have the type of skull that shows possible blending?  I know its probably a sample taken after Neanderthals began vanishing, given that they thought it was a good sample to show whether modern human was descendant from a mix of the two species.  What I figure is that there is no way to say for sure that the two species weren't intermixing.  If the product of two separate species is sterile--as seen in mules and ligers--couldn't those skulls with both characteristics be evidence of interbreeding which created sterile individuals?  Perhaps this could've even contributed to the Neanderthal decline.  Although, I have to admit I know even less about the Neanderthal decline. 

Now as I'm writing this and clearly talking out of no where, I'm thinking that you will be wondering why I'm even talking at all.  Yeah, I don't know really.  But I let my mind wander some times.  And the louder it wanders, the more I want to share.