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What kind of family groups did genetic evidence suggest Neanderthals formed?
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Neanderthal
Artist's rendering of Homo neanderthalensis, who ranged from western Europe to Central Asia for some 100,000 years before dying out approximately 30,000 years ago.
Genetic evidence obtained from sites containing the remains of multiple individuals suggests that Neanderthals lived in small, close-knit, extended family groups.1
Within these groups, the males were found to be closely related to one another. This pattern of relatedness indicates that these communities were likely patrilocal, meaning that females typically left their birth groups to settle with the relatives of their male partners.1