Living Neandertals? Oh yes!

Hmm, somehow I supsected Neandertals to be a bit more intimidating and a little less into nerdy self-deprecation.

The alma of Central Asia have been identified as remnant neanderthals. According to the hypothesis some neanderthal bands reached the mountains of north central Asia, and their descendents survive to this day. Some human tribes in the area tell stories of trading with a mysterious people who live high in the mountains, and who refuse to come in contact with outsiders.

Here I had hoped to find something interesting, and I google "Alma" and find links to yeti and the like. I don't suppose there is any chance that a real "alma" has been found and genetically tested to "identify" these beings an any real sense of the word?

Badger3k,

Sorry, but no. There are a lot of contradictory stories about the alma. If it exists it does live in a very isolated and rather unexplored part of the world. Sort of like Iraq outside of the Green Zone for western reporters. :)

The alma has been called everything from a giant monkey, to an advanced extraterrestrial. No hair or fecal samples as far as I know. A few footprints. But I'm not really up on the subject. The identification with the neanderthal is based on reported sightings of short, very stout human like figures high in the local mountains. Considering Russia's current state of deterioration it's doubtful there will be any serious expeditions to the area anytime soon.

Would be nice to gain further information on the alma, but in the current climate re cold-weather anthropoids it's wise to be extra careful.

Alan - ok, thanks for the info.

Here'a a link to Zana the Alma, and includes a photo of the skull of her alleged hybrid son Khwit Sabekia - which seems to exhibit some archaic features?! Zana and her 4 children lived in Abkhazia, a province of Georgia, in the Caucusus, where many Alma sighting have been made.

Curiously there is a genetically distinct population just north of that area, known as the Adygei or sometimes as Circassians, and they have a tendancy to have red hair too, like the Alma - is this a coincidence?!

I still put my money on Nikolay Valuev and his fellows from whatever place in Russia he's from. I mean, just look at this guy! :p >>

http://www.sme.sk/cdata/2441756/fakturant.jpg

http://tonyrogers.com/humor/russian_boxer.htm

(The Boston Irish are just a bunch of inbred folks from the West of Ireland -- and I say that lovingly as someone who, in part, comes from that same inbred stock.)

When you take a good look at how much we really know about our world, you learn that we really don't know as much as we think we do. Central Eurasia overall is rather poorly known, and what we do know is often contradictory. A lot of stuff is mistaken, a lot conflated, and much more is plain confused. Scientists, cryptozoologists, and pranksters haven't helped matters any. Though in my opinion cryptozoologists have got to be their own worst enemy.

Archaic skeletal features could be anything from human-neanderthal hybridization (if such is possible) to retention of traits long since vanished outside the area. I learn towards the latter myself, insofar as there was long term human-neanderthal co-habitation of the Levant with no hybrids as yet discovered.

The ruddish hair might be connected to the trait found further north and west. Or it could be a separate development. The description of the alma as having a sort of reddish fur may even be due to neanderthals having been covered in thick reddish hair all over, as a protection against the cold.

Which is all speculative sans reliable evidence one way or another.

Keep in mind that as a species we are descended from a robust ancestor. From time to time it is possible for people to be born with skeletal traits resembling traits exhibited by those ancestors.

The description of the alma as having a sort of reddish fur may even be due to neanderthals having been covered in thick reddish hair all over, as a protection against the cold.

the alma was described as having dark skin. this is implausible if chimps are evidence: they have pink unexposed skin. dark skin evolves when you lose fur and are exposed to sunlight. the latitude is also not right for dark skin.

The accounts are a confused mess. Some people say one thing, some say another. A few do report what they saw, while other people tell the interviewer what they think the interviewer wants to hear. It's a lot like political surveys in the U. S. :)

The subject is not one that can be settled through eyewitness accounts. What is needed is solid forensic evidence; Footprints, hair, fecal material, body parts. A corpse or a living specimen would be a great help. But, it all depends upon a lot of hard work, a comprehensive research program, and a shit load of luck. When you consider how pranksters, fraud, and premature announcements have damaged the field, it makes sense to be cautious.

Note this. Before Diane Fossey began her studies of the mountain gorilla in Rwanda the animal was known to be aggressive, elusive, and hard to find. Today it seems you can't go more than a hundred yards away from your camp in mountain gorilla territory without stumbling into a group of them. It's not that the gorillas changed, it's more that how we view them, and how we approach them, has changed. You could say we've stopped freaking them out.

I have a strong feeling that should we discover that the alma, yeti, or sasquatch really do exist, how we interact with them will undergo a dramatic change. Because we'll stop freaking them out.

(But don't expect any bigfoots to come visiting our suburbs anytime soon. :) )