Scientists reveal what Neanderthal penises looked like - and what sex with the ancient species was really like
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Today, only one kind of human exists – the homo sapiens. But about 60,000 years ago we went head-to-head – and even had sex with – another species, called the Neanderthals. This ancient relative had large noses, strong double-arched brow ridge and relatively short and stocky bodies, skeletal evidence shows.
![[Neanderthals had large noses, strong double-arched brow ridge and relatively short and stocky bodies. The species ranged widely in Eurasia (Europe and Asia), from Portugal and Wales in the west across to the Altai Mountains of Siberia in the east]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/14/93960575-14263769-image-a-31_1736520942787.jpg)
And although the details of Neanderthal sexual organs are not preserved in the fossil record, anatomically weren't that different from us, it's believed. Researchers say that Neanderthals had penises of the same size and general shape as modern men. Dr Andrew Merriwether, anthropologist at Binghamton University in New York, said Neanderthals and homo sapiens were 'incredibly similar'.
![[Pictured, a recreated head and pieced-together skull skull of Shanidar Z, a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal skeleton]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/15/93960561-14263769-Pictured_a_recreated_head_and_pieced_together_skull_skull_of_Sha-m-54_1736522778187.jpg)
'They are pretty much identical to us in most respects, so I would assume the unpreserved soft parts would likely be the same as other humans,' he told MailOnline. Professor Guido Barbujani, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Ferrera in Italy, told MailOnline: 'Genitalia are not preserved in fossils, and there is no way to figure out what they looked like in Neanderthals.
![[Neanderthals had a long, low skull (compared to the more globular skull of modern humans) with a prominent brow ridge above their eyes. Pictured, a skull at a Neanderthal exhibition at the Musee de l'Homme in Paris]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/16/93960541-14263769-image-m-56_1736528101836.jpg)
About 60,000 years ago we went head-to-head – and even had sex with – another species, called the Neanderthals. Pictured, reconstruction of a Neanderthal man at the Natural History Museum in London. Neanderthals had large noses, strong double-arched brow ridge and relatively short and stocky bodies. The species ranged widely in Eurasia (Europe and Asia), from Portugal and Wales in the west across to the Altai Mountains of Siberia in the east.
![[Neanderthals were skilled big game hunters, using spears to take down animals like deer, ibex and even rhinos and mammoths. It's likely they would have hesitated to use these weapons if their families and lands were threatened - potentially by arriving homo sapiens. Pictured, ancient Neanderthal javelins]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/10/15/35189532-14263769-Neanderthalensis_were_skilled_big_game_hunters_using_spears_to_t-a-52_1736522302774.jpg)
