Just curious about the wording in the first paragraph of this article: “Around 36,000 years ago, Neandertals and people lived side by side ….” Were not the Neandertals “people,” and isn’t it true that Neandertals and Cro-Magnons were both Homo sapiens?
John Hanson Mitchell Lincoln, Mass.
This is one of the biggest debates in paleoanthropology. Many researchers regard Neandertals as a separate species
, Homo neanderthalensis.
Others view Neandertals as a geographic variant of
H. sapiens.
The debate is far from over
.—B. Bower
From the Nature Index
Paid Content
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.