CANBERRAzoomecasinonodepositbonus, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have made new discoveries about the lifestyle of Neanderthals, finding that the archaic humans hunted animals ranging in size from bison to rabbits.

In a study published on Wednesday, a team of archaeologists revealed new insights into the way of life of Neanderthals living between 100,000 and 65,000 years ago.

Led by Sofia Samper Carro, an archaeologist from the Australian National University (ANU), the team gathered hundreds of thousands of artifacts from a site called Abric Pizarro in north-eastern Spain in the foothills of the southern Pyrenees mountains.

Abric Pizarro is one of few sites worldwide dating from 100,000 to 65,000 years ago -- a period called the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 about which little is known.

By analyzing artifacts including stone tools and animal bones the researchers found that Neanderthals knew the best ways to exploit the area and territory and were resilient through harsh climate conditions.

"Our surprising findings at Abric Pizarro show how adaptable Neanderthals were," Samper Carro said in a media release.

"The animal bones we have recovered indicate that they were successfully exploiting the surrounding fauna, hunting red deer, horses and bison, but also eating freshwater turtles and rabbits, which imply a degree of planning rarely considered for Neanderthals."

She said the findings challenge widespread beliefs that Neanderthals only hunted large animals.

Neanderthals went extinct approximately 40,000 years ago after living in Europe -- as well as parts of Asia -- for over 300,000 years.

According to the research team, which included archaeologists from the University of Queensland and University of South Australia as well as Spain's Autonomous University of Barcelona, finding and studying sites like Abric Pizarro could help solve the mystery of what drove Neanderthals to extinction.■