New evidence of Neandertal-homo sapien mating
New research suggest that homo sapiens interbred with Neandertals and continued to evolve after the settled Europe. Professor Joao Zilhao et al. compared an early modern human skull from Petera cu Oase ("cave with bones") in Romania with others from the Late Pleistocene period.The skull, dated 35-40,000 years old, represents the oldest human remains found in Europe, hence being the best clue to how people looked like then. Certain features, like frontal flattening and large upper molars, made Zilhao suspect interspecies mating. "This mixture would have resulted in both archaic traits retained from the Neandertals and unique combinations of traits resulting from the blending of previously divergent gene pools."
40,000-year-old skull shows both modern human and Neandertal traits, EurekAlert.org