for National Geographic News Live fast, die young—this is how
our closest relatives the Neanderthals were traditionally
thought to progress through life. But a new study of Neanderthal
skeletons suggests the species grew quickly but reached sexual
maturity later than so-called modern humans—and quite possibly
survived to a ripe old age. (Related: "Neandertals Had Long
Childhoods, Tooth Study Suggests" [September 20, 2005].) The
study also suggests that Neanderthals had a harder time of child
bearing and possibly child raising. As a result, modern humans
may have simply outbred their heavy-browed rivals. By studying
the skulls of Neanderthal babies, researchers were able to
estimate how quickly the infants' brains grew. They found that
between birth and adulthood, a Neanderthal brain expanded faster
than that of a modern human. The biggest growth spurt occurred
in the first couple of years of life. Neanderthal heads—and
therefore brains—were already known to be larger than those of
modern humans. But that does