ABSTRACT
The subspecies designation was a useful way of acknowledging the Neandertals' similarity to living humans while emphasizing their differences. One specimen had curved thigh bones, which were interpreted as a sign that Neandertals walked in a bent-over posture. The fate of the Neandertals is less clear when considering multiregional evolution in the broadest sense, which proposes that some archaic populations outside of Africa contributed to the ancestry of living humans. The discoveries of Neandertals from the Middle East showed a greater geographic range than first imagined. By the late twentieth century, it became apparent from new geological dates that the idea of a simple transition from Neandertals to modern humans was incorrect. The situation for the Middle Eastern Neandertals has also become more complicated, with some arguing for a long period of coexistence between Neandertals and moderns. Even given the strict protocols of the Neandertal DNA study, some people wondered if the results might have been a fluke.
