Neanderthals: Facts About Our Extinct Human Relatives
Neanderthals (or Neandertals) are our closest extinct
human relatives. There is some debate as to whether
they were a distinct species of the Homo genus (Homo
neanderthalensis) or a subspecies of Homo sapiens.
Our well-known, but often misunderstood, fossil kin
lived in Eurasia 200,000 to 30,000 years ago, in the
Pleistocene Epoch.
Neanderthals’ appearance was similar to ours, though
they were shorter and stockier with angled
cheekbones, prominent
brow ridges, and wide
noses. Though sometimes
thought of as dumb
brutes, scientists have
discovered that they used
tools, buried their dead
and controlled fire, among
other intelligent
behaviors. It is theorized
that for a time,
Neanderthals, humans
and probably other Homo
species shared the Earth.
Discovery
In 1856, a group of quarrymen discovered remnants of
a skeleton in the Neander Valley near Dusseldorf,
Germany (hence their name). In a limestone cave, they
found 16 pieces of bone, including a skull. Thinking the
bones belonged to a bear, the quarrymen gave them
to local teacher Johan Karl Fuhlrott. From him, the
bones found their way to scientists, and it was
eventually determined that they were ancient human
relatives. The publication and popularization of
Charles Darwin’s "The Origin of the Species" in 1859
helped inform the discovery. Since that day in the
Neander Valley, more than 400 Neanderthal bones
have been found.
The original cave men
Neanderthals lived during the Ice Age. They often took
shelter from the ice, snow, and otherwise unpleasant
weather in Eurasia’s plentiful limestone caves. Many
of their fossils have been found in caves, leading to
the popular idea of them as “cave men.”
Like humans, Neanderthals originated in Africa but
migrated to Eurasia long before humans did.
Neanderthals lived across Eurasia, as far north and
west as the Britain, through part of the Middle East, to
Uzbekistan. Popular estimates put the peak
Neanderthal population around 70,000, though some
scientists put the number drastically lower, at around
3,500 females.
Their short, stocky stature was
an evolutionary adaptation for
cold weather, since it
consolidated heat. According to
the Smithsonian Institution, the
wide nose helped humidify and
warm cold air, though this
assertion is debated. The
American Museum of Natural
History states that other
differences from humans are a
flaring, funnel-shaped chest, a flaring pelvis, and
robust fingers and toes. Their brains, however, grew at
a similar rate to humans’ and were about the same
size or larger. Approximately 1 percent of
Neanderthals had red hair, light skin, and maybe even
freckles.
For a long time, scientists and anthropologists
theorized that Neanderthals grew up faster than
humans, reaching maturity sooner and dying younger,
as chimps do. In 2008, however, Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences published evidence that
humans and Neanderthals matured at the same rate.
Social structure
Neanderthals lived in nuclear families. Discoveries of
elderly or deformed Neanderthal skeletons suggest
that they took care of their sick and those who could
not care for themselves. Neanderthals typically lived
to be about 30 years old, though some lived longer. It
is accepted that Neanderthals buried their dead,
though whether or not they left carved bone shards as
grave goods is more controversial.
moved out of Africa, into Eurasia. They could have
interbred as recently as 37,000 years ago.
It is not known if they had language, though the large
size and complex nature of their brains make it a likely
possibility.
A 2012 study led by Dr. Rachel Wood, however, cast
doubt on that theory. Researchers re-examined bones
from southern Spain that were used in earlier studies
with new radiocarbon dating techniques. They
discovered that the Neanderthal bones were more
than 50,000 years old. Humans aren’t believed to have
settled in the area until 42,000 years ago, meaning
that it may be unlikely that they lived together and
interbred.
Neanderthals used stone tools similar to and no more
sophisticated than the ones used by early humans,
including blades and scrapers made from stone flakes.
As time went on, they created tools of greater
complexity, utilizing materials like bones and antlers.
Evan Hadingham of PBS’s NOVA even reports that
Neanderthals used a type of glue, and later pitch, to
attach stone tips to wooden shafts, creating
formidable hunting spears.
Neanderthals had some control of fire, and it is even
theorized that they built boats and sailed on the
Mediterranean.
Neanderthals were primarily carnivorous, and the
harsh climate caused them to resort occasionally to
cannibalism. Recently, however, scientists have found
that Neanderthals actually ate cooked vegetables
fairly regularly.
Human-Neanderthal interbreeding
Probably the most debated aspect of Neanderthal life
in recent years is whether or not they interbred with
humans. The answer remains ambiguous, with
scholarly opinions ranging from belief that they
definitely interbred to belief that the two groups
didn’t exist on earth at the same time.
Neanderthal expert Erik Trinhaus has long promoted
the interbreeding hypothesis, but the theory really
caught fire when a 2010 study published in Science
magazine determined that Neanderthal DNA is 99.7
percent identical to modern human DNA (a chimp’s is
99.8 percent identical). Researchers of the
Neanderthal Genome Projectfound that 2.5 percent of
an average non-African human’s genome is made up
of Neanderthal DNA. The average modern African has
no Neanderthal DNA. This information could support
the interbreeding hypothesis because it suggests that
humans and Neanderthals only bred once humans had
If humans and Neanderthals didn’t interbreed, the
similar genomes of humans and Neanderthals could
be the result of both groups having a common African
ancestor.
Extinction
No one knows exactly why Neanderthals went extinct
and why humans survived. Some scholars theorize
that gradual or dramatic climate change led them to
their demise, while others blame dietary deficiencies.
Some theorize that humans killed the Neanderthals.
Until recently the hypothesis that Neanderthals didn’t
go extinct but simply interbred with humans until they
were absorbed into our species was popular.
http://www.livescience.com/28036-neanderthalsfacts-about-our-extinct-human-relatives.html