Neanderthal Human Evolution

It is estimated that humanity began millions of years ago (Smithsonian, 2015). Humans evolved from ape-like creatures, which is why we are considered primates. Homo sapiens, as paleontologists call us, are the only species of humans left in the world today. However, that was not always the case. Thousands of years ago, there were many other ancient species, called hominids (Evolution, 2001), on the planet that we had to compete and try to coexist with. Evidently, humans did not coexist very well since there are no hominids left in the world today. Or are there?

The most widely believed explanation of the origins of modern humans is the “Out of Africa Model” (Figure 1). This model says that humanity’s homeland is Africa. Humans simply migrated out of Africa and gradually replaced any other hominid species that they came in contact with (PBS Learning Media, 2007).

Figure 2- What a Neanderthal man probably looked like (BBC News, 2012).

One example of an ancient species was the Homo neanderthalensis, or the Neanderthals. Like us, the Neanderthals originated from a common ancestor that came out of Africa. However, the Neanderthals migrated to Europe long before we left the continent. Because of this migration, as well as a

While we evolved in Africa, they evolved, too, and we had no contact with each other for thousands of years. Homo sapiens began to migrate from Africa roughly 60,000 years ago; approximately 30,000 years ago we finally met our long-lost cousins (National Geographic, 2015). There is evidence to suggest that our first interactions were not pleasant ones. In fact, most people suspect that we drove out the Neanderthals. This is because the Neanderthals died out at roughly the same time that we arrived in Europe. Many scientists suggest that we did this by outcompeting or outright killing them. However, there is a new, gentler theory that has to do with our