| Neanderthal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Range | Europe, Siberia , Western Asia and Central Asia . |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Primates |
| Family | Hominidae |
| Genus | Homo |
| Species | Neanderthals |
| Conservation Status | |
 Extinct | |
Neanderthals were a hominid species that lived throughout europe , central asia , siberia and western asia 40,000 years ago and splitting from humans an estimated 315,000 years leaving the african continent before homo sapiens did .
Taxonomy[]
Neanderthals were a species of primate being part of the genus homo thus making them a human species
Although it is not known when humans and neanderthals split it is estimated that neanderthals split from modern humans half a million years ago however neanderthals likely have a more recent common ancestor with denisovans with both species overlapping in siberia .
Diet[]
Neanderthals much like humans and the vast majority of other non-human primates were omnivores consuming both meat and plants and likely being hunters and gathers consuming hunted animals such as mammoths , deers , bison and possibly large carnivorus predators like cave lions.
Neanderthals also consumed fruits , vegetables , nuts and berries as well as seafood like fish , crabs , sea snails , mussels and even Dolphins and Sharks .
Neanderthals likely used fire to cook their food and they used stone tools and other stone age weapons for hunting large land animals and large aquatic predators such as Sharks .
According to some studies Neanderthals diet included 80% meat and 20% plants (Mostly Fruits and Vegetables) meaning they primarily ate meat but also included fruits and vegetables in their diets thus supporting that they were hunter-gathers like cavemen were.
DNA In Modern Humans[]
Neanderthal DNA is a minor part of some human populations today suggesting that Neanderthals mated with Humans at some point likely when humans migrated out of africa and into eurasia .
Neanderthal DNA could be found in practically all of Eurasia besides most of Southeast Asia and Native Populations from The Americas were shown to carry small portions of Neanderthal DNA as well as Denisovan DNA suggesting that their ancestors had interacted with Neanderthals and Denisovans . the Ethnic groups shown to have the most Neanderthal Admixture were Central Asians , East Asians , Indians/Sri Lankans/Pakistanis/Bengalis and Siberians with these groups carrying slightly more Neanderthal admixture than populations from Europe or Western Asia .
Smaller portions of Neanderthal DNA was also found in some native african groups such as the Yoruba and Khoisan despite Neanderthals being found nowhere near western africa or southern africa (Where the Khoisan or Yoruba are Native to) they were shown to have very minimal portions of neanderthal admixture likely due to the back into africa migration .