Your weekend read: ENDANGERED SPECIES

 I'm excited to announce a new release from good bud and and awesome prehistoric author Jacqui Murray. She is also sharing a bit of history about Neanderthals with us.

Welcome, Jacqui.

Summary

Savage Land is the third prehistoric man trilogy in the series, Man. Vs. Nature. Written in the spirit of Jean Auel, Savage Land explores how two bands of humans survived one of the worst natural disasters in Earth's history, when volcanic eruptions darkened the sky, massive tsunamis crossed the ocean in crushing waves, and raging fires burned the land. Each tribe starring in the story considered themselves apex predators. Neither was. That crown belonged to Nature and she was intent on washing the blight of man from her face.

 

In Endangered Species, Book One of the trilogy, Yu’ung’s Neanderthal tribe must join with Fierce’s Tall Ones—a Homo sapiens tribe--on a cross-continent journey that starts in the Siberian Mountains. The goal: a new homeland far from the devastation caused by the worst volcanic eruption ever experienced by Man. How they collaborate despite their instinctive distrust could end the journey before it starts or forge new relationships that will serve both well in the future.

Join me in this three-book fictional exploration of Neanderthals. Be ready for a world nothing like what you thought it would be, filled with clever minds, brilliant acts, and innovative solutions to potentially life-ending problems, all based on real events. At the end of this trilogy, you’ll be proud to call Neanderthals family.

Book information:

Endangered Species—Print, digital, audio available: http://a-fwd.com/asin=B0DJ9Y7PQ8

Genre: Prehistoric fiction

Editor: Anneli Purchase

 

Author bio:

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes 100+ books on tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.

 

Social Media contacts:

 

Amazon Author Page:        https://www.amazon.com/Jacqui-Murray/e/B002E78CQQ/

Blog:                                       https://worddreams.wordpress.com

Pinterest:                                http://pinterest.com/askatechteacher

X:                                             http://twitter.com/worddreams

Website:                                 https://jacquimurray.net

  

What Did Neanderthals Look Like

If you don't know a lot about Neanderthals, you may think this picture is accurate:

or this one (the angry, crazed killer)

 

But did you know this one is the current accepted depiction of your ancestors:

Their physique

Neanderthals were barrel-chested to accommodate larger lungs (for longer/harder running), somewhat shorter than us with robust bones. As you imagine, skin color doesn’t preserve over tens of thousands of years so scientists disagree whether Neanderthal’s were white, brown, or black. Being native to Eurasia, they absorbed sunlight as our species does in lower sun areas. The presumption because of this and additional reasons is they were light-skinned.

Their heads

They had a shorter and more sloping forehead than ours, a rather prognathic and large nose (an adaptation to colder weather), a larger brow ridge, and a thinner skull. They had our white eyes with colored irises, likely brown, and larger than ours to serve them in their darker habitats. Their brains were on average, vaguely larger than ours, but shaped differently. They were roomier in the back than the front. I won't delve into the why of that, but probably had to do with the more physical nature of their lives where ours require more cerebral considerations.

 

They had no chins.

Their hair was straightish and darkish with a percentage of redheads.

Their gate and bearing was not as smooth or elegant as ours, but was sturdy and durable.

There was not much difference between the size of the sexes. Some scientists believe females were smaller, others think it negligible. This suggests that violent male dominance was not integral to their social structure. Their lifestyle was more likely akin to the bonobos, whose adult lives are based around long-term female friendships and getting along with each other.