Neanderthals (Homo Neanderthalensis or Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans in the genus Homo, who lived in Eurasia until 40,000 years ago.
Currently earliest fossils of Neanderthals in Europe are dated between 430,000 to 450,000 years ago, and thereafter Neanderthals expanded into Southwest and Central Asia. They are known from numerous fossils, as well as stone tool assemblages.
Almost all assemblages younger than 160,000 years are of the so-called Mousterian techno-complex, which is characterised by tools made out of stone flakes. The type specimen is Neanderthal 1, found in Neander Valley in the German Rhineland, in 1856.
Compared to modern humans, Neanderthals were stockier, with shorter legs and bigger bodies. In conformance with Bergmann's rule, this likely was an adaptation to preserve heat in cold climates.
Male and female Neanderthals had cranial capacities averaging 1,600 cm3 (98 cu in) and 1,300 cm3 (79 cu in), respectively, within the range of the values for anatomically modern humans. Males stood 164 to 168 cm (65 to 66 in) and females 152 to 156 cm (60 to 61 in) tall.
Since 2010, there has been growing evidence for admixture between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans. This admixture is reflected in the genomes of modern European and Asian populations, but not in the genomes of most sub-Saharan Africans.
This suggests that interbreeding between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans took place after the recent "out of Africa" migration, likely between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago.