Homo sapiens neanderthalensis

H. neanderthalensis binomial = Homo neanderthalensis binomial_authority = King (William King (geologist)), 1864 synonyms = Palaeoanthropus neanderthalensisCitation neededdate=May 2010H. s. neanderthalensisCitation neededdate=May 2010 range_map = Range of Homo neanderthalensis.png range_map_width = 220px range_map_caption = Range of Homo neanderthalensis. Eastern and northern ranges may be extended to include Okladnikov in Altai (Altai Mountains) and Mamotnaia in Ural (Ural Mountains)

The Neanderthal (short for Neanderthal Man, in English pron-enni??�nd?rt??l, IPA/ni??�nd?r???l/) or IPA/ne??�nd?rt??l/; also spelled Neandertal) is an extinct member of the Homo (Homo (genus)) genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia. Neanderthals are either classified as a subspecies (or race (Race (classification of human beings))) of humans (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) or as a separate species (Homo neanderthalensis).

The first proto-Neanderthal traits (trait (biology)) appeared in Europe as early as 600,000-350,000 years ago. Proto-Neanderthal traits are occasionally grouped to another phenetic (Phenetics) species, Homo heidelbergensis, or a migrant form, Homo rhodesiensis. By 130,000 years ago, complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared. These characteristics then disappeared in Asia by 50,000 years ago and in Europe by 30,000 years ago. Current (as of 2010) genetic evidence (Neanderthal genome) suggests interbreeding (Neanderthal admixture) took place with Homo sapiens sapiens (Homo sapiens) (anatomically modern humans) between roughly 80,000 to 50,000 years ago in the Middle East, resulting in non-ethnic sub-Saharan Africans having no Neanderthal DNA, and Caucasians (Caucasian race) and Asians (Asian race) having between 1% and 4% Neanderthal DNA. However, specimens with combined Human and Neanderthal traits have also been found in Spainfact as recently as 40,000 BC suggestingfact long term and widespread intermingling of anachronistic races throughout history.

The youngest Neanderthal finds include Hyaena Den (UK), considered older than 30,000 years ago, while the Vindija (Croatia) Neanderthals have been re-dated to between 32,000 and 33,000 years ago. No definite specimens younger than 30,000 years ago have been found; however, evidence of fire by Neanderthals at Gibraltar indicate that they may have survived there until 24,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon or early modern human skeletal remains with Neanderthal traits were found in Lagar Velho (Portugal), dated to 24,500 years ago and controversially interpreted as indications of extensively admixed populations.

Neanderthal stone tools provide further evidence for their presence where skeletal remains have not been found. The last traces of Mousterian culture, a type of stone tools associated with Neanderthals, were found in Gorhams Cave on the remote south-facing coast of Gibraltar. Other tool culture (Archaeological culture)s sometimes associated with Neanderthal include Ch�telperronian, Aurignacian, and Gravettian, with the latter extending to 22,000 years ago, the last indication of Neanderthal presence.

Neanderthal cranial capacity is thought to have been as large as that of Homo sapiens, perhaps larger, indicating that their brain size (Human brain#Structure) may have been comparable as well. In 2008, a group of scientists created a study using three-dimensional computer-assisted reconstructions of Neanderthal infants based on fossils found in Russia and Syria, showing that they had brains as large as modern humans at birth and larger than modern humans as adults. On average, the height of Neanderthals was comparable to contemporaneous Homo sapiens. Neanderthal males stood about Convert165-168cm0abbr=on, and were heavily built with robust bone structure. They were much stronger than Homo sapiens, having particularly strong arms and hands. Females stood about Convert152-156cm0abbr=on. They were almost exclusively carnivorous and apex predators.