Did our closest relatives adapt to the sea in the same way as early Homo sapiens? Humans share a deep bond with coasts and oceans. More than 500 million people live in coastal communities, and beaches and seafood attract tourists from around the world. Archaeological research in southern Africa revealed early human coastal adaptations that occurred at least as far back as ∼160,000 years ago (1) in the Middle Stone Age (MSA)—the cultural period of the earliest Homo sapiens. Paleolithic sites across Africa and elsewhere support the hypothesis that coastal adaptations have a long and lasting history. Yet, scientists still debate the importance of coastal adaptations for the evolution and dispersal of H. sapiens during the Pleistocene (Ice Age) (2). On page 1443 of this issue, Zilhão et al. (3) tackle an even more contentious issue with wide-ranging implications for human evolution: Did Neanderthals share our species' interest in oceans and their inhabitants?

中文翻译：

---

尼安德特人冲浪和草皮

我们的近亲是否像早期智人一样适应海洋？人类与海岸和海洋有着深厚的联系。超过 5 亿人居住在沿海社区，海滩和海鲜吸引着来自世界各地的游客。南部非洲的考古研究揭示了人类的早期沿海适应至少可以追溯到大约 160,000 年前 (1) 中石器时代 (MSA)——最早的智人的文化时期。整个非洲和其他地方的旧石器时代遗址支持了这样一种假设，即沿海适应具有悠久而持久的历史。然而，科学家们仍在争论海岸适应对更新世（冰河时代）期间智人进化和扩散的重要性（2）。在本期第 1443 页，Zilhão 等人。