February 4 is celebrated every year Neanderthal Day. On this day in 1857, this representative of the human race was presented to the scientific community for the first time. His remains were found in 1856 in Germany in one of the caves near the Neanderthal River. This branch of the genus Homo in the period approximately 230,000 – 27,000 years BC. e. lived on the territory of Europe and Western Asia.

The first studies and analyzes revealed that Neanderthals had light skin and light or red hair. It was immediately hypothesized that it was from these extinct people that Caucasians inherited light skin, but later this opinion was disproved. It has been proven that there were dark-skinned and dark-haired Neanderthals. Interesting fact: studies have proven that the volume of the Neanderthal brain is the same as that of a modern person.

There are still several theories about the reasons for the disappearance of this species. One group of scientists believes that Neanderthals can be considered the ancestors of modern people, because they evolved into the Cro-Magnons. Other scientists believe that it was the Cro-Magnons who destroyed or assimilated the Neanderthals. In order to accurately confirm at least one of the theories, it is necessary to carefully study the Neanderthal genome.