You Are Not Prepared to Learn the Size of Neanderthal Infants
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- Scientists analyzing the remains of a six-month-old Neanderthal infant found it to be as large as a one-year-old modern human, indicating Neanderthal babies grew faster and were more robust than human infants.
- The study, published in Current Biology, used dental development to accurately determine the infant's age, revealing a discrepancy between skeletal maturity and actual age.
- Neanderthal children exhibited faster body and brain growth, suggesting higher energy expenditure and adaptation to harsher prehistoric environments.
- The findings highlight significant developmental differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, despite evidence of interbreeding between the two species.
- This research provides new insights into Neanderthal biology and evolution, based on a comprehensive study of 111 bones from a single infant discovered in a Northern Israel cave.
