The Neanderthal diet, wider than expected

2008/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa
• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

Although it was thought that the Neanderthals fed almost exclusively from terrestrial mammals, excavations made in some caves of Gibraltar have shown that they also ate dolphins, seals and mussels. This is what has been deducted from a group of researchers from Spanish and British centers such as the Museum of Natural History of London, the Gibraltar Museum or the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid. One of the characteristics that supposedly characterized the Homo sapiens of the Neanderthales was their widest diet and the exploitation of marine resources, among others. And also one of the alleged reasons for the success of the first. However, the discoveries of Gibraltar have shown that both species had very similar customs, at least in the area.