[BroJoeK]

redgolum: "When I was a kid, the paintings of Neanderthals looked like ape men.
Now they look like my best friend back home."

"The research team, which was led by Damian Labuda of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, suggests that the intermingling between humans and neanderthals likely took place in the Middle East.
While much still remains unclear about the Neanderthals, it's now clear that the two lived in close association, according to the researchers"

Seems that Neanderthals are looking better and better every day.
What if it turns out that our Neanderthal ancestors were actually the kinder & gentler "better half"?

[redgolum]

Lots of Germans, Slavs, and Swedes where I grew up. That picture looks like an old friend of mine’s father.

Including the beard.

There was an interesting article I read once out of Hungry, where the researcher remarked that no one claims Neanderthals are part of their DNA, but all claim they are part of everyone else’s.

Basically, the Neanderthals were a racial sub type. If they could breed in, they were not separate species. If they were, the children of such unions would more than likely be sterile.