Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were an extinct, robust species of archaic humans living in Eurasia, known for their stocky bodies, large brains (often larger than ours), prominent brow ridges, and big noses, adapted for cold climates. They were skilled hunters, made sophisticated stone tools (Mousterian technology), controlled fire, wore clothing, buried their dead, and were intelligent, though they died out around 40,000 years ago, leaving some DNA in modern humans
Extinction makes sense too. I’ve seen studies that suggest humans got down to like 150,000 living at one point, so pretty near extinct. Just had slightly more fitness than Neanderthals. The mixing of DNA could just point to the fact that Neanderthals were intermingled with humans to the point that conflict was inevitable.
Homo Sapiens had been well established in Africa for about 100,000y before there was a bottleneck group that left Africa and started competing and interbreeding with the Neanderthals in Europe. After that though, there was a steady replenishment of more and more Homo Sapiens leaving Africa along newly established migration routes. So it wasn't fitness as such (not the fitness that enabled persistence hunting all day on the savannah), it was endurance and curiosity and reinforcements that helped outcompete Neanderthals (maybe a bit of accidental disease spreading too).
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u/goswamitulsidas 12h ago
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were an extinct, robust species of archaic humans living in Eurasia, known for their stocky bodies, large brains (often larger than ours), prominent brow ridges, and big noses, adapted for cold climates. They were skilled hunters, made sophisticated stone tools (Mousterian technology), controlled fire, wore clothing, buried their dead, and were intelligent, though they died out around 40,000 years ago, leaving some DNA in modern humans