If you want a proper understanding of the evolution of those that left Africa some time in the last 100000 years you should read There is a new book out 'The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution' by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending. They explain how we have been evolving apart and why we are different.

Our Shady Past.

Now are we really related to the Neanderthals?. I don't know if this is good or bad as they have always been painted as contemptible.In a previous posting it was argued that a group of humans left Africa 100000 years ago and it appears that our friends the Neanderthals died out or were exterminated by us 30000 years ago which means that we lived together for seventy thousand years and not just ten thousand years as it was thought.Richard Dawkins believes that we interbred as does Henry Harpending author of the book explaining how the races are evolving away from each other. I think maybe it is possible but only that the human males captured the Neaderthal females after killing all the males.That is often what happened when different races came into cantact with each other in the past.