Climate vs competition: what killed our closest relatives?
The extinction of Neanderthals approximately 40,000 years ago remains one of the most debated topics in evolutionary science.
While they thrived in Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years, their disappearance coincided with the arrival of Homo sapiens, News.Az reports, citing The Hindu.
Research suggests that their downfall was likely caused by a combination of rapid climate fluctuations and intense competition for resources. As the climate became increasingly unstable, the dense forests Neanderthals relied on for hunting transformed into open steppes, favoring the more versatile long-distance hunting techniques of modern humans.
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Beyond environmental factors, biological and social differences may have played a decisive role. Modern humans possessed more complex social networks and advanced tool-making capabilities, which allowed them to adapt more efficiently to dwindling food supplies. Genetic evidence also indicates that interbreeding occurred between the two species, suggesting that some Neanderthal populations were not simply wiped out but were eventually absorbed into the larger human population. This "genetic swamping," paired with a low reproductive rate and a small total population, likely pushed the Neanderthals past the point of recovery.
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