How to build a Neandertal

摘要

Under a desolate sierra of northern Spain, in the darkness of a deep shaft, lies the largest accumulation of hominin fossils ever found. On page 1358 of this issue, Arsuaga et al. (2) date this paleontological treasure at the Sima de los Huesos (see the photo) and shed new light on one of the most impassioned issues in the field of human evolution: How did Neandertals evolve? Four to five hundred thousand years ago, archaic humans in western Eurasia diverged from other groups of that period in Africa and eastern Asia. Their skull, jaw, and teeth began to display features that characterize later Neandertals.