Ancient remains from Israel’s North show Neanderthal children grew faster than modern humans

Key Points:

• The remains of Amud 7, a Neanderthal infant dating back approximately 51,000 to 56,000 years, represent the most complete Neanderthal infant skeleton ever found, discovered in Amud Cave in the Upper Galilee.
• The study found that Neanderthal infants developed faster than modern human babies, with Amud 7's body size corresponding to a child nearly twice its dental age, indicating accelerated growth likely adapted to harsh environments.
• Researchers observed that while newborn Neanderthals and modern humans share similar dental and limb bone growth, Neanderthal toddlers experienced quicker body growth compared to their teeth, contrasting with the more proportional growth seen in modern humans.
• Despite diverging from Homo sapiens around 600,000 years ago, Neanderthals and modern humans interbred during the Middle Paleolithic era, demonstrating evolutionary compatibility despite separate development.
• The findings suggest Neanderthals employed an evolutionary strategy of accelerated early development, providing insight into distinct adaptive growth patterns between closely related species in response to environmental pressures.