History of Humanity

Homo Neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) is assessed as Homo sapiens’ subspecies since it's believed to possess evolved from the primary Homo along a path that was very almost like that of the modern human. The last common ancestor of anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals appears to be Heidelberg man . mtDNA analysis estimates show that these two species had a standard ancestor around half 1,000,000 years before divergence (Boyd & Silk, 2014).
When it existed
This hominid lived during the glacial period between 600,000 and 25,000 years ago (Boyd & Silk, 2014).
Ecology/Environment
Neanderthals were highly adapted to cold weather; thus they lived within the cold parts of Europe and central to southwestern Asia. When global climate change resulted in warmer temperatures in their habitats, they retreated to the cooler parts of the north (T. Maricic, V. Günther, & Georgiev, 2013).Cranial MorphologyNeanderthals had angled cheek bones, distinct brow ridges between their eyes, large middle part of the face, large nose, low receding forehead, and strong bones. Their brains were bigger brains than that of modern human being. They were stocky, short, and powerfully built. They had massive skulls, protruding faces, and bony ridges over their brows. They had longer heads than that of the modern human. The back of their skulls had a noticeable bulge referred to as occipital bun. They had a relatively flat chin (Paixão-Côrtes, Viscardi, & Salzano, 2012). Non-cranial morphologyThe average height and weight of adult male Neanderthal were 5 feet 5 inches and 143 pounds respectively, while the average height and weight of adult female Neanderthal were 5 feet 1 inch and 119 pounds respectively. Their postures were perhaps as erect as that of modern man and they were entirely bipedal. They were strong and quite flexible. The high density and thickness of their limb bones show that they walked and ran a great deal. The bones of their legs and lower arms were shorter than those of modern human beings (Paixão-Côrtes, Viscardi, & Salzano, 2012). Key fossil proof for the speciesThe key fossil evidence for the existence of the Neanderthals included thick bones, an oval shaped skull that had pronounced brow ridges between the eyes and low, receding forehead (Boyd & Silk, 2014).Major fossil evidence for the inclusion or exclusion of Neanderthals from direct human ancestryTwo bases of evidence that have shed some light on the issue a common ancestry between Neanderthals and modern human beings are bones and DNA. Critical analyses conducted on the Neanderthal and modern human genomes show that they share about 99.5-99.9 percent of their base unit structures. However, analysis of Neanderthal skeletons shows that they are not modern humans since these specimens show a physical association with stone tools as well as food waste bones from ice age animals that have become extinct (Boyd & Silk, 2014). Cultural associations for the speciesStudies conducted on the cultural assemblages of Neanderthals show that they had nuclear families and that they took care of the sick, the elderly, and other members of the community who could not take care of themselves. Discoveries of buried skeletons show that they buried the dead. Cultural assemblages linked to the Neanderthals in Europe include the Gravettian, Aurignacian, Châtelperronian, and Mousterian cultures (Collarda, Tarle, Sandgathe, & Alexander, 2016).LanguageAnthropologists assert that there are morphological suggestions, which state that Neanderthals had a complex language made up of syntax and words since it would have been very hard for them to learn some of their hunting and tool-making tactics without a language. Analyses of the DNA from their bones show that their FOXP2 gene was similar to that of modern man. According to scientists, this gene plays a crucial role in language development (T. Maricic, V. Günther, & Georgiev, 2013).ReferencesBoyd, R., & Silk, J. B. (2014). How Humans Evolved: Seventh Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.Collarda, M., Tarle, L., Sandgathe, D., & Alexander, A. (2016). Faunal evidence for a difference in clothing use between Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe . Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 44, 235–246.Paixão-Côrtes, V. R., Viscardi, L. H., & Salzano, F. M. (2012). Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensisand the Denisova specimen:New insights on their evolutionary histories using whole-genome comparisons. Genetics and Molecular Biology,, 35(4), 904-911.T. Maricic, V. Günther, O., & Georgiev, S. G. (2013). A recent evolutionary change affects a regulatory element in the human FOXP2 gene . Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30(4), 844–852.