Neanderthals, also known as Neandertals, were an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. Here are some key points about Neanderthals:
-
Evolutionary History: The earliest known examples of Neanderthal-like fossils are around 430,000 years old. They were a distinct species called Homo neanderthalensis and are our closest extinct human relatives.
-
Physical Characteristics: Neanderthals had defining features such as a large middle part of the face, mid-facial prognathism, and a robust cranial vault with a massive arched brow ridge. They were cold-adapted people and lived before and during the last ice age in some of the most unforgiving environments ever inhabited by humans.
-
Genetic Relationship: Neanderthals and modern humans shared a common ancestor between 700,000 and 300,000 years ago. Genetic evidence indicates that while they interbred with non-African modern humans, they ultimately became distinct branches of the human family tree.
-
Language and Social Life: The complexity of their social lives suggests that Neanderthals must have been able to communicate with each other, although their language may have been simpler than that of modern humans.
-
Discovery: The first recognized Neanderthal fossil, Neanderthal 1, was discovered in 1856 in the Neander Valley in present-day Germany.
Neanderthals were initially depicted as primitive and unintelligent, but scientific knowledge and perception of them have markedly changed since then. Although they are physically extinct, part of their genetic legacy lives on in the DNA of humans alive today.
