Drawing on evidence from animal remains—largely the bones of a mountain goat species called the Caucasian tur—scientists in the republic of Georgia have determined that Neandertals at a site were as capable hunters as the modern humans who later lived in the area.

"[Neandertal] hunting patterns were indistinguishable in terms of the species they targeted and the ages of the animals they killed," said lead study author Daniel Adler, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

The study is described in the February 2006 issue of the journal Current Anthropology.