Neanderthal
Evolution

There are two main hypotheses regarding the evolution of Neanderthals following the Neanderthal/human split: two-phase and accretion. Two-phase argues that a single major environmental event—such as the Saale glaciation —caused European H. heidelbergensis to increase rapidly in body size and robustness, as well as undergoing a lengthening of the head (phase 1), which then led to other changes in skull anatomy (phase 2). However, Neanderthal anatomy may not have been driven entirely by adapting to cold weather. Accretion holds that Neanderthals slowly evolved over time from the ancestral H. heidelbergensis, divided into four stages: early-pre-Neanderthals (MIS 12, Elster glaciation), pre-Neanderthals (MIS 11 – 9, Holstein interglacial), early Neanderthals (MIS 7– 5, Saale glaciation – Eemian), and classic Neanderthals (MIS 4–3, Würm glaciation).
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