Neanderthal: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026

News •

Neanderthals Walked with Flatter, More Flexible Feet, Researchers Say • Nov. 12, 2026, 5:01 PM ET (Sci.News)

75,000-year-old Neanderthal may have been killed by a spear aimed at the heart • Oct. 31, 2026, 7:07 AM ET (Science Daily)

75,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Skeleton Reveals a Mysterious Spear Wound Aimed at the Heart • Oct. 20, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (SciTechDaily)

75,000-year-old Neanderthal remains offer rare evidence of a violent death • Oct. 15, 2026, 3:29 PM ET (Earth.com)

Facts

Also Known As	Neandertal • Homo sapiens neanderthalensis • Homo neanderthalensis

Photos and Videos

Map showing the locations of prominent Neanderthal archaeological sites across Europe and the Middle East during the Late Pleistocene Age, with markers for sites such as Neander Valley, La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Spy, Krapina, Shanidar, Tabun, and others. The map also depicts areas of glacial ice cover and coastal land exposed by lower sea levels during that period.

Neanderthal remains at Kebara, Israel

Mousterian industry

Neanderthal: genetic studies

Neanderthal toe bone

A map of the Eastern Hemisphere during the Pleistocene, showing the geographic extents of several species of Homo that are thought to have existed at that time.

Neanderthal: bone fragments

What was the first human species?

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Topics

Shanidar remains Kebara 2 Fontéchevade skulls Amud remains La Ferrassie skeletons Gibraltar remains Krapina remains Ehringsdorf remains Saccopastore skulls human evolution Australopithecus Homo erectus Homo habilis Australopithecus sediba Denisovan Cro-Magnon Homo floresiensis Homo heidelbergensis Boskop skull Homo naledi

Key People

Svante Pääbo

Svante Pääbo

Swedish evolutionary geneticist

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Aleš Hrdlička

American anthropologist

Marcellin Boule

Marcellin Boule

French geologist

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

Animal Factoids

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names