[luvbach1]

How are pre Neanderthal Neanderthal?

[zeestephen]

Re: “Pre-Neanderthal”

I had the same question.

According to Wiki:

“Scientists do not agree when Neanderthals can first be recognised in the fossil record, with dates ranging 200,000 and 300,000 years BP.”

So, I think it was just a poorly written sentence, and that 200,000 years ago is the point where a lot of scientists start to get really skeptical about the evidence.

In this case, the evidence appears to be really solid.

[BroJoeK]

luvbach1: "How are pre Neanderthal Neanderthal?"

That word "Neanderthal" is just that, a word, used to describe remains similar to those first discovered in the Neander Valley, in northwestern Germany.
Today various sites are classified as "early Neanderthal", "middle Neanderthal" "late Neanderthal", "pre-Neanderthal" and even, presumably, "post-Neanderthal" -- all of which merely describes where-exactly investigators think each particular find fits in the great scheme of things.

Speculations about which creatures may have been ancestors of Neanderthals range from homo antecestor (circa 1.2 million years ago) to Homo heidelbergensis (circa 600 thousand years ago).
There are similarities amongst all these creatures and early "fully-humans", but also noticeable differences.