Mammal · GBIF taxon 4827584
Homo neanderthalensis
Homo neanderthalensisAlso known as Neanderthal, Neandertal, Neanderthal Man
Neanderthals were stocky, muscular hominins built for the glacial climates of Ice Age Eurasia. They crafted sophisticated Mousterian stone tools, controlled fire, buried their dead, and hunted large game across open steppes and boreal woodlands. Though they vanished around 40,000 years ago, their genetic legacy endures in modern human DNA today.
PrehistoricPrimate
Licensed referenceRyan Schwark / CC0 · cc0
—observations
—countries
—peak records
ExtinctConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXExtinctRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Reindeer
- Woolly mammoth
- Red deer
Predators
- Cave lion
- Cave hyena
- Brown bear
ThreatsClimatic shifts, competition with Homo sapiens, small population sizes
HabitatsSteppe-tundra, boreal forests, temperate woodlands, limestone caves
Life spanUp to 35–40 years
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- FamilyHominidae
- SpeciesHomo neanderthalensis
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Extinct species; known only from fossil, genetic, and archaeological records.
Responsible observation
- Fossil Record: Examine Mousterian tool kits and skeletal casts in natural history museum collections.
- Genetic Heritage: Explore genomic research detailing Neanderthal genes present in modern populations.
- Cave Sites: Learn about protected archaeological sites like Shanidar or Gibraltar from research publications.
Image unavailableSister Taxon Ancestor 
Prey no rights reserved, uploaded by mionectes · cc0Prey 
Distant Kin Giles Laurent / CC BY-SA 4.0 · cc-by-sa
Close Relative no rights reserved, uploaded by Abhas Misraraj · cc0
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