Neanderthal

Neanderthals were a species of early humans that lived in Europe and western Asia from roughly 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, adapting to ice age conditions with stocky builds and large brains. They hunted large animals, used fire, made tools, and likely had complex social structures and even language capabilities, making them far more sophisticated than once believed. Modern genetic evidence shows that Neanderthals interbred with our own species (Homo sapiens) when humans migrated into Europe, leaving traces of their DNA in many people today.