This week, I learned a great deal about how the discovery of Neanderthals affected how scientists think about the fossil record and human evolution. Paleoanthropologists have studied these fossilized remains for a long time to figure out more about humans and our evolution. We have learned a great deal from Neanderthals. For example, we were able to learn about their physical features such as their large brains, rounded crania, big faces, teeth size, body structure, and height. Studying the Neanderthal child from the Devil’s tower was one of the ways that paleoanthropologists learned more about Neanderthals and their relationship to humans. From studying the evidence for the child, Gibraltar suggested that Neanderthals develop faster than contemporary humans. They also has more precocious brain growth. We also learned that their large mid-face and noses benefitted them during the cold weather of the ice age. Paleoanthropologists have also studied their fossils to see if it was possible that Neanderthals could speak. They found that the bones around the larynx were not anatomically distinct from modern humans. Also, since their brains were large and complex, it was likely they needed speech to hunt. Humans also share a speech-related gene with Neanderthal specimens, with the same mutations humans have, which suggests Neanderthals may have shaped some of our language capabilities. It is very important to study Neanderthals in order to fully understand human evolution and why we have formed the way we did. We can also learn more about Neanderthals by looking at their culture and symbolic behavior. They mostly stayed around rock shelters because there was little evidence for shelters or organized camps. It was likely that they buried their dead, like humans do now. There were very few old people which suggests that they may have live short, brutal lives full of violence in which only the strongest survived. From studying the fossilized specimen of Neanderthals, paleoanthropologists were able to discover that humans actually share a genome with Neanderthals. The fossils also provided proof that Neanderthals mixed with early modern humans. Europeans and Asians had a part of the Neanderthal genome, but it was missing in Africa. It is likely that this mixing occurred in the Middle East. Studying Neanderthal genes can teach us a lot about ourselves, and why humans were so successful in evolution and natural selection. In my opinion, the biggest contribution these findings have made to the study of human diversity was creating a direct link with the genome that exists in both humans and Neanderthals. The genome project was one of the most successful ways of proving a direct link between the two species. When studying the connection in genes, we can learn so much more about the two groups, their differences, and why one died out while the other survived and evolved. None of this would have been possible without the work of paleoanthropologists studying these fossilized specimen and producing this link. With the continued study of Neanderthal fossils, we can uncover more and more about their relationship to humans and human evolution.