Chapter 10- The Sexual Evolution

This article essentially discusses the history of the Neandertal’s and Homo Sapiens and what possible reasons account for why they never crossbred. Sumner uses two species of chimpanzee to support his point that species can be almost identical genetically yet have very little in common as it relates to what attracts them and what their mating habits are. I have to admit that I spent the majority of the article thinking “who cares?” and I am still a bit confused as to what the purpose is in negotiating reasons why people, as we know them today, never crossbred with Neandertals. At any rate, Sumner made interesting, and colorful, arguments to explain why Neandertals and Homo Sapiens never mated once you compare two species of chimps and understand why they haven’t crossbred either. Sumner theorizes that Neandertals and Homo Sapiens, like chimps, never crossbred because they had different mating rituals/reproductive strategies/things that caused them to be attracted to one another. I think this relates to other things we are reading/discussing because Sumner mentions that even though each shares a lot of characteristics, they had different experiences, and thus different patterns of life, which inhibited their interactions with each other.