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One Human Quality May Help Explain Why Neanderthals Went Extinct

• chiefalchemist 3y ago
  While it might explain why humans prospered, it doesn't seem to explain why Neanderthals went completely to zero.
  • peutetre 3y ago
    They didn't go completely to zero. Neanderthal genetics live on in us: https://www.livescience.com/42933-humans-carry-20-percent-neanderthal-genes.html 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 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.
    • chiefalchemist 3y 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?