Neanderthals and early humans ‘likely to have kissed’, say scientists

From Galápagos albatrosses to polar bears, chimpanzees to orangutans, certain species appear to kiss. Now researchers suggest Neanderthals did it too – and might even have locked lips with modern humans.

It is not the first time scientists have suggested Neanderthals and early modern humans were intimately acquainted. Among previous studies, researchers have found humans and their thick-browed cousins shared the same mouth microbe for hundreds of thousands of years after the two species split, suggesting they swapped saliva.

Dr Matilda Brindle, an evolutionary biologist and the first author of the new study from the University of Oxford , said while various theories had been proposed, the new work supported a simple explanation.

“Probably they were kissing,” she said, adding that