Homo neanderthalensis

Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis, are an extinct group of archaic humans that lived in Europe and western and central Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene, and were largely gone from Asia and most of Europe by about 40,000 years ago, though they may have lasted longer in parts of Iberia. The first recognised fossil came from the Neander Valley in Germany in 1856. They had long, low skulls with heavy brow ridges, strong jaws, wide chests and short limbs, an average male standing about 165 centimetres, with brains as large as or larger than those of living people. They made Mousterian stone tools, kept fire and ate mainly big game along with plants and mushrooms. They buried their dead. Ancient DNA published from 2010 showed that they interbred with modern humans, and people with non-African ancestry carry a small share of Neanderthal genes.