One Human Quality May Help Explain Why Neanderthals Went Extinct (opens in new tab)

(inverse.com)

2 pointsborissk2y ago3 comments

3 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

chiefalchemist2y ago· 2 in thread

While it might explain why humans prospered, it doesn't seem to explain why Neanderthals went completely to zero.

peutetre2y ago

They didn't go completely to zero. Neanderthal genetics live on in us:

https://www.livescience.com/42933-humans-carry-20-percent-ne...

So at least some of the explanation is that they were absorbed into a larger population.

The Scottish Wildcat is a present day example of this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_wildcat

One of the reasons it's going extinct as a separate species is because of interbreeding with feral and domestic cats.

chiefalchemist2y ago

That makes sense, thanks for pointing that out. But on a global level, I find it hard to believe there were zero exceptions. If other species have pockets of limited existence, why not Neanderthals? Perhaps Homo Sapiens were also more violent? More willing to kill their "enemy"? And that too lives on in us?

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