Why aren't neanderthals considered humans?

Neanderthals present a conundrum well known in biology: What exactly is a species? ... "The Irish were voracious cannibals, and considered it praiseworthy to eat the bodies of their parents," he wrote. read more

Neanderthals could - and did - interbreed with humans, but probably not very effectively, which ignites some debate over whether they were truly a different"species." If they weren't, then they were close. read more

The presence of DNA from Neanderthals in human genomes is compelling evidence that humans and Neanderthals could mate and produce fertile offspring. If we stick to the Biological Species Concept, then we are a single species, as Schaafhausen originally thought. read more

Actually, in some classifications Neanderthals are considered a subspecies of humans. Although it is common for the classifications Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens, there are also those who use the classifications Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens sapiens. read more