Neanderthal extinction
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Neanderthal extinction was the sudden disappearance of Neanderthals during a time when modern humans began to emerge in Eurasia. Since the discovery of Neanderthal remains, both the Neanderthals' place in the human family tree and their relation to modern humans has been hotly debated. At different times, they have been classified as a separate species (Homo neanderthalensis) and as a subspecies (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis).
In August 2014, a team reported on a new analysis of 40 sites in Western Europe, concluding that Neanderthals died out about 40,000 years ago. This date, much earlier than previous estimates, was established through improved radio carbon dating methods. Researchers want to expand their survey of sites to Eastern Europe and Siberia, as Neanderthals may have survived longer there.
Hypotheses on the fate of the Neanderthals include a failure or inability to adapt to climate change, competitive exclusion, or extinction by encroaching anatomically modern humans, who arrived in Europe long after Neanderthals had settled there. Neanderthal hybridization with early modern human populations is also considered a viable hypothesis. Some interbreeding took place in western Asia about 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, as evidenced by 1 to 4 percent of the material of genomes carried by non-African people living today.
See also
- List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)
- Neanderthals in popular culture
- Quaternary extinction event
