If you were watching American TV in 2004, then you remember the Geico caveman commercials. What you might not remember is that they spun off a sitcom: Cavemen (2007), starring Nick Kroll, was cancelled after only six episodes and is considered one of the worst TV series of all time. But how does it hold up to scientific scrutiny? Find out on today’s episode, where we do the research the screenwriters didn’t!

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In this episode:

The Geico caveman commercials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8o_YqzMBoo

Watch the full Cavemen series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE9Q41jqFKU&list=PL81C5835E560AE6BE

Green et al. (2010) A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1188021

Green et al. (2006) Analysis of one million base pairs of Neanderthal DNA: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05336

Denny, the first generation Neanderthal/Denisovan hybrid: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/24/denisovan-neanderthal-hybrid-denny-dna-finder-project

Interbreeding between archaic humans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans

“Ghost lineages” in human ancestry: https://www.science.org/content/article/mysterious-ghost-populations-had-multiple-trysts-human-ancestors

Oase 1 – a modern human with recent Neanderthal ancestry: https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature14558

Bacho Kiro – modern humans with recent Neanderthal ancestry: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3

Nikolai Valuev (is not a Neanderthal): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Valuev

Allometry: https://www.britannica.com/science/allometry