Modern Humans and Neanderthals Mixed?

A PICTURE has been released of a 40,000-year-old human skull found in Romania that shows early Europeans shared modern and neanderthal traits, suggesting the two species may have mixed.
The skull fragments, which researchers say are the earliest modern human remains found in Europe, were discovered in a cave.

The reconstructed cranium, named Oase 2, has the same proportions as modern human skulls and shares a number of non-neanderthal features. But it also has a flat forehead and the largest cheek teeth so far known for a modern human.

"Such differences raise important questions about the evolutionary history of modern humans," said researcher Joao Zilhao, of the University of Bristol.

"They could also reflect a mixture with neanderthal population as modern humans spread through western Eurasia," he said.

The neanderthals were the closest cousins to modern humans, or homo sapiens, but died out.

***It should be noted that DNA and genetic evidence shows that there was no mixing between Neanderthals and modern man.