Homo sapiens Might Not Be Responsible for Neanderthal Demise

Researchers’ simulations suggest that small population sizes and inbreeding made Neanderthal populations vulnerable to chance fluctuations in population size.

Written byCatherine Offord

| 2 min read

Listen with Speechify

0:00

2:00

ABOVE: WIKIMEDIA, AQUILAGIB

Neanderthals may have gone extinct due to chance, and not, as some researchers previously thought, due to competition for resources with Homo sapiens, according to a study published on Wednesday (November 27) in PLOS ONE. Simulations of population dynamics, carried out by researchers in the Netherlands, suggests that inbreeding, small population sizes, and a pinch of misfortune could have been sufficient to wipe out our hominin cousins around 40,000 years ago.

“The standard story is that Homo sapiens invaded Europe and the near east where Neanderthals were living and then we outsmarted them or outnumbered them,” study coauthor Krist Vaesen of Eindhoven University of Technology tells The Guardian. “The main conclusion of our work is that humans were not needed for the Neanderthals to go extinct. It’s certainly possible that it was just bad luck.”

Vaesen and colleagues built a simulation of Neanderthal populations, which totaled between ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
View Full Profile