Neanderthals: Facts, news, features and articles about our extinct human relatives
Latest about Neanderthals

Mystery ancestor mated with ancient humans. And its 'nested' DNA was just found.
By Stephanie Pappas last updated
Today's humans carry the genes of an ancient, unknown ancestor, left there by hominin species intermingling perhaps a million years ago.

Finger Bone Points to New Branch of Humanity
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
The finger came from a young girl, who was neither like us nor Neanderthal.

Neanderthals and Denisovans Lived (and Mated) in This Siberian Cave
By Laura Geggel last updated
The Neanderthals and Denisovans — both relatives of modern humans — were roommates, literally, for thousands of years in a remote Siberian cave, two new studies find.

DNA from Mysterious 'Denisovans' Helped Modern Humans Survive
By Charles Q. Choi last updated
Genetic mutations from extinct human relatives called the Denisovans might have influenced modern human immune systems, researchers say.

Extinct Denisovan Woman Gets Her First Portrait Thanks to DNA from Her Pinky Bone
By Brandon Specktor last updated
Scientists have recreated the face of a Denisovan woman — an ancient human who went extinct tens of thousands of years ago — using a groundbreaking DNA analysis.

Old Stone Age culture discovered in China
By Nicoletta Lanese published
Modern humans and now-extinct human relatives may have mingled at the site.

200,000-year-old 'mammoth graveyard' found in UK
By Laura Geggel published
During the last ice age, five mammoths — a baby, two juveniles and two adults — died at a "graveyard" in what is now the United Kingdom.

How would Earth be different if modern humans never existed?
By Patrick Pester published
Humanity shaped the world at the expense of many species, which were driven to extinction through our activities. How would Earth be different if modern humans never existed?
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