The world's oldest tumour has been discovered in the rib of a Neanderthal who lived around 130,000 years ago.
Scientists at the University of Kansas took X-rays of the inch-long rib fragments - first found in the Krapina rock shelters of Croatia - and discovered parts of the inner bone were missing.
Following CT scans the scientists discovered that this was likely to have been caused by soft-tissue tumour known in modern-day patients as fibrous dysplasia.
Fibrous dysplasia is an abnormal bone growth where normal bone is replaced with soft fibrous bone tissue.
It can cause abnormal growth or swelling of the bone.
Although it can occur in any part of the skeleton the soft tumours are most commonly found in the skull, thigh, shin, ribs, upper arm and pelvis
Fibrous dysplasia is not cancerous but is rare and there is no known cure.
The disorder is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood.
Males and females of any race are equally affected.
The bones studied by Kansas university anthropologist David Frayer and his team were first excavated more than 100 years ago in Croatia.
More... Dino Jaws! Meet the terrifying 150m-year-old ocean monster that weighed 12 tonnes (and his name's Kevan) World's oldest primate dating back 55m years is found in China (and it's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand)The site, known as the Krapina rock shelter, in the north of the country held more than 900 Neanderthal bones dating back from between 120,000 and 130,000 years ago.
Frayer wanted to scan the bones because many of them showed signs of trauma and marks that happened after the neanderthal had died.
Many of the 900 neanderthal bones found in Croatia had evidence of trauma or possible bite marks. This scan taken during the 1980s by researchers in Pennsylvania has a white area of overexposure which was the first evidence that a tumour had 'eaten away' the bone The detailed scans show exactly where the bone has been 'eaten away'
These marks suggest either cannibalism or burial rituals.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania took X-rays of the bones during the 1980s and published a book containing all the radiographs.
One of the inch-long rib fragments was shown to have sections of bone that were 'burned out' in the X-ray images.
'Burned out' sections of X-rays suggest over exposure, and in the rib bones this overexposure was caused by missing bone in the inner part of the fragment.
Frayer used these images as a guide to take new, higher-resolution X-rays of the specimens.
His team also scanned the bones using high-resolution microCT scanners that doctors currently use on modern-day patients.
The microCT scan found that the 'spongy bone' which should be on the inner part of the fragment was missing and may have been 'eaten away' by a soft-tissue tumour.
This type of tumour is seen in modern-day patients and is called fibrous dysplasia.
Fibrous dysplasia is an abnormal bone growth where normal bone is replaced with fibrous bone tissue.
It can cause abnormal growth or swelling of the bone and although it can occur in any part of the skeleton, it is most commonly found in the skull, thigh, shin, ribs, upper arm and pelvis
Fibrous dysplasia is not cancerous but is rare and there is no known cure.
Frayer reported the findings in the journal PLOS ONE.
He told LiveScience: 'People of that time didn't live as long as they did today; plus, there weren't very many of them compared to the Egyptians and people today.
'Finding evidence of tumors and evidence of cancers, is - I don't know if I want to say "lucky" - but there isn't a lot of evidence for it.'
It was previously thought that climate change and a reduction in tree cover forced early man to stand up, but now experts believe the rocky African landscape played a far more significant roleDescribing the type of tumour that was found, Frayer added: 'They range all the way from being totally benign, where you wouldn’t recognize them, to being extremely painful.
'The size of this one, and the bulging of it, probably caused the individual pain.'
Previously the earliest known tumours were found in Egyptian mummies dating back 4,000 years so this discovery predates this find significantly.
A study released earlier this month discovered that Neanderthals lost out to homo sapiens in the battle to survive because they were not clever enough to adapt.
The results showed that modern man walked the planet much earlier than was believed and Neanderthals died out much sooner than was estimated.
Neanderthals had larger eyes than Homo sapiens but did not develop brain power in the same way. This meant that Homo sapiens were able to outsmart and ultimately outlive Neanderthals who had to use their brains more for physical rather than mental needs NEANDERTHALS BREASTFED LIKE MODERN WOMAN
Neanderthals breastfed their babies for over a year - just like humans, according to new research.
Chemical analysis of a neanderthal child's tooth reveal it was reared on mother's milk for seven months with suckling continuing for the same period coupled with solid food.
The change from breastfeeding to plants and grains can be established by looking at differences in the distribution of barium – a similar compound to calcium - in teeth enamel.
This enabled Dr Manish Arora and colleagues at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York to discover the early life diet of a 10 to 12 year-old child that lived in a cave in Belgium around 100,000 years ago.
The brains of Neanderthals were the same size as those of modern man but more of it was used to focus on the physical needs of their larger bodies.
Researchers from the University of York additionally found that early man began to walk on two feet because of rocky terrain and not climate change.
The study found that our upright gait may have its origins in the rugged landscape of East and South Africa which was shaped during the Pliocene epoch by volcanoes and shifting tectonic plates.
Hominins, human's early ancestors, would have been attracted to the terrain of rocky outcrops and gorges because it offered shelter and opportunities to trap prey.
But it also required more upright scrambling and climbing gaits, prompting the emergence of bipedalism.
