Natural History Museums everywhere display line-ups of ape-to-human icons that supposedly show how humans evolved from ape-like creatures millions of years ago. The last step in this line up are Neanderthals, holding the “40,000 to 400,000 years ago” time slot. Just decades ago, Neanderthals were regarded in museums and textbooks as gorilla-like cavemen. This is because their fossils were viewed through an evolutionary lens, being framed as some type of “last step” between ape-like creatures and humans.