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= The Neanderthal Microbiome = Neanderthals lived along-side humans until their extinction between 40,000-30,000 years ago, and share a common ancestor which could tell us more about how our microbiome evolved. Using dental calculus, calcified bone that traps microorganism, researchers have been able to look into how ancient human microbiomes may have existed. Based on a 16s shotgun sequence of dental calculus found in neanderthal specimens, researchers have found a large portion of neanderthal oral microbiome contains Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, much like modern humans; however, neanderthals also had, Euryarchaeota, fungi and some oral pathogens that modern humans lack. Diet of neanderthals depend on the environment they live in. Neanderthal remains recovered from Spy Cave, Belgium and examined them using dental calculus which indicated neanderthals in this area had meat based diet, including woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep. This is compared to neanderthal remains found in Spain. In El Sidrón Cave, Spain, they examined remains indicating a large amount of plant material such as nuts and moss, as well as mushrooms. Researchers determined that the difference in diets contributed to the neanderthal microbiota, and meat based diet caused the most variation. According to fecal biomarkers, neanderthals were able to convert cholesterol to coprostanol at a high rate, much like modern humans, because of the bacteria present in their gut.