Neanderthal Genes Found in Modern Humans California Academy of Sciences - African Hall Neandertals were the first fossil hominins discovered and, since then, have been the most studied. However, it is only in the last two decades that entirely new techniques have made new and fascinating insights into their biology and behavior possible.Beyond their odd anatomy, we are now able to explore the mechanisms of their birth and growth, the way their brains developed, and the chemical signals left in their bones from their diet. The decoding of their genome has opened a new era in paleoanthropology.Ultimately, understanding the rise and the fall of the Neandertals will help us to elucidate the unrivaled evolutionary success of our own species.