Editing Neanderthal extinction (section)

==Possible causes of extinction==
===Violence===
Kwang Hyun Ko discusses the possibility that Neanderthal extinction was either precipitated or hastened by violent conflict with ''Homo sapiens''. Violence in early hunter-gatherer societies usually occurred as a result of resource competition following natural disasters. It is therefore plausible to suggest that violence, including primitive warfare, would have transpired between the two human species.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ko|first1=Kwang Hyun|title=Hominin interbreeding and the evolution of human variation|journal=Journal of Biological Research-Thessaloniki|date=2016|volume=23|pages=17|doi=10.1186/s40709-016-0054-7|pmid=27429943|pmc=4947341 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The hypothesis that early humans violently replaced Neanderthals was first proposed by French paleontologist [[Marcellin Boule]] (the first person to publish an analysis of a Neanderthal) in 1912.<ref>Boule, M 1920, Les hommes fossiles, Masson, Paris.</ref>

===Parasites and pathogens===
Infectious diseases carried by ''Homo sapiens'' may have passed to Neanderthals, who would have had poor protection to infections they had not previously been exposed to, leading to devastating consequences for Neanderthal populations. ''Homo sapiens'' were less vulnerable to Neanderthal diseases, partly because they had evolved to cope with the far higher disease load of the tropics and so were more able to cope with novel pathogens, and partly because the higher numbers of ''Homo sapiens'' meant that even devastating outbreaks would still have left enough survivors for a viable population.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kennedy |first=Jonathan  |title=Pathogenesis: how Germs Made History|pages=42–43 |publisher= Torva|location =London, UK |year=2023|isbn=}}</ref> If viruses could easily jump between these two similar species, possibly because they lived near together, ''Homo sapiens'' might have infected Neanderthals and prevented the epidemic from burning out as Neanderthal numbers declined. The same process may also explain ''Homo sapiens''' resilience to Neanderthal diseases and parasites. Novel human diseases likely moved from Africa into Eurasia. This purported "African advantage" remained until the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago in Eurasia, after which domesticated animals surpassed other primates as the most prevalent source of new human infections, replacing the "African advantage" with a "Eurasian advantage". The catastrophic impact of Eurasian viruses on Native American populations in the historical past offers a sense of how modern humans may have affected hominin predecessor groups in Eurasia 40,000 years ago. Human and Neanderthal genomes and disease or parasite adaptations may give insight on this.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Houldcroft |first1=Charlotte J. |last2=Underdown |first2=Simon J. |date=July 2016 |title=Neanderthal genomics suggests a pleistocene time frame for the first epidemiologic transition: Neanderthal Infectious Diseases Genetics |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.22985 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |language=en |volume=160 |issue=3 |pages=379–388 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.22985|pmid=27063929 }}</ref><ref name="Greenbaum-etal">{{Cite journal|last1=Greenbaum|first1=Gili|last2=Getz|first2=Wayne M.|last3=Rosenberg|first3=Noah A.|last4=Feldman|first4=Marcus W.|last5=Hovers|first5=Erella|last6=Kolodny|first6=Oren|date=2019-11-01|title=Disease transmission and introgression can explain the long-lasting contact zone of modern humans and Neanderthals|journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=5003|doi=10.1038/s41467-019-12862-7|issn=2041-1723|pmc=6825168|pmid=31676766|bibcode=2019NatCo..10.5003G}}</ref>

Infectious illness interactions may express the prolonged period of stagnation before the modification, as per disease ecology. Mathematical models have been used to make forecasts for future investigations, giving information about inter-species interactions during the shift between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic eras. This can be useful given the sparse material record from this time and the potential of DNA sequencing and dating technology. Such modeling, together with modern technology and prehistoric archaeological methodologies, may provide a fresh understanding of this time in human origins.<ref name="Greenbaum-etal" />

In late-20th-century New Guinea, due to cannibalistic funerary practices, the [[Fore people]] were decimated by [[transmissible spongiform encephalopathies]], specifically [[Kuru (disease)|kuru]], a highly [[virulent]] disease spread by ingestion of [[prion]]s found in brain tissue. However, individuals with the 129 variant of the [[PRNP]] gene were naturally immune to the prions. Studying this gene led to the discovery that the 129 variant was widespread among all modern humans, which could indicate widespread cannibalism at some point in human prehistory. Because Neanderthals are known to have practised cannibalism to an extent and to have co-existed with modern humans, British palaeoanthropologist Simon Underdown speculated that modern humans transmitted a kuru-like spongiform disease to Neanderthals, and, because the 129 variant appears to have been absent in Neanderthals, it quickly killed them off.<ref name=underdown2008>{{cite journal |first=S. |last=Underdown |year=2008 |title=A potential role for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in Neanderthal extinction |journal=Medical Hypotheses |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=4–7 |doi=10.1016/j.mehy.2007.12.014 |pmid=18280671}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liberski |first1=P. |title=Kuru: a journey back in time from Papua New Guinea to the Neanderthals' extinction |journal=Pathogens |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=472–505 |year=2013 |pmid=25437203 |pmc=4235695 |doi=10.3390/pathogens2030472 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Competitive replacement===
[[File:Neandertal vs Sapiens.jpg|thumb|180px|Sapiens and Neanderthal skulls]]

==== Species specific disadvantages ====

Slight [[natural selection|competitive advantage]] on the part of modern humans may have accounted for Neanderthals' decline on a timescale of thousands of years.<ref name="Wynnetal2016">{{cite journal |last1= Wynn |first1= Thomas |last2= Overmann |first2= Karenleigh A |last3= Coolidge |first3= Frederick L |date= 2016 |title= The false dichotomy: A refutation of the Neandertal indistinguishability claim |journal= Journal of Anthropological Sciences |volume= 94 |issue= 94 |pages= 201–221 |doi= 10.4436/jass.94022 |doi-broken-date= 2024-11-02 |pmid= 26708102 }}</ref><ref name=banks>{{cite journal |last1=Banks |first1=William E. |last2=d'Errico |first2=Francesco |last3=Peterson |first3=A. Townsend |last4=Kageyama |first4=Masa |last5=Sima |first5=Adriana |last6=Sánchez-Goñi |first6=Maria-Fernanda |date=24 December 2008 |editor1-last=Harpending |editor1-first=Henry |title=Neanderthal Extinction by Competitive Exclusion |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=3 |issue=12 |pages=e3972 |issn=1932-6203 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003972 |pmid=19107186 |pmc=2600607 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.3972B|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Generally small and widely dispersed fossil sites suggest that Neanderthals lived in less numerous and socially more isolated groups than contemporary ''Homo sapiens''. Tools such as Mousterian flint stone flakes and [[Levallois technique|Levallois points]] are remarkably sophisticated from the outset, yet they have a slow rate of variability and general technological inertia is noticeable during the entire fossil period. Artifacts are of utilitarian nature, and symbolic behavioral traits are undocumented before the arrival of modern humans in Europe around 40,000 to 35,000 years ago.<ref name="Wynnetal2016"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eol.org/pages/4454114/details |title=Homo neanderthalensis Brief Summary |publisher=EOL |access-date=September 26, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title =Symbolic or utilitarian? Juggling interpretations of Neanderthal behavior: new inferences from the study of engraved stone surfaces | pmid=25020018 | doi=10.4436/JASS.92007 | volume=92 | issue=92 | journal=J Anthropol Sci | pages=233–55 | last1 = Peresani | first1 = M | last2 = Dallatorre | first2 = S | last3 = Astuti | first3 = P | last4 = Dal Colle | first4 = M | last5 = Ziggiotti | first5 = S | last6 = Peretto | first6 = C| year=2014 | doi-broken-date=2024-11-02 }}</ref>

The noticeable morphological differences in skull shape between the two human species also have cognitive implications. These include the Neanderthals' smaller parietal lobes<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bruner |first1=Emiliano |date=2004 |title=Geometric Morphometrics and Paleoneurology: Brain Shape Evolution in the Genus ''Homo'' |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=47 |issue=5 |pages=279–303 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.03.009 |pmid=15530349 |bibcode=2004JHumE..47..279B }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bruner |first1=Emiliano |date=2010 |title=Morphological Differences in the Parietal Lobes with the Human Genus: A Neurofunctional Perspective |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=S77–S88 |doi=10.1086/650729 |s2cid=146587487 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bruner |first1=Emiliano |last2=Manzi |first2=Giorgio |last3=Arsuaga |first3=Juan Luis |date=2003 |title=Encephalization and Allometric Trajectories in the Genus ''Homo'': Evidence from the Neandertal and Modern Lineages |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=100 |issue=26 |pages=15335–15340 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2536671100 |pmid=14673084 |pmc=307568 |bibcode=2003PNAS..10015335B |doi-access=free }}</ref> and cerebellum,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hublin |first1=Jean-Jacques |last2=Neubauer |first2=Simon |last3=Gunz |first3=Philipp |date=2015 |title=Brain Ontogeny and Life History in Pleistocene Hominins |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences |volume=370 |issue=1663 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2014.0062 |pmid=25602066 |pmc=4305163 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weaver |first1=Anne |date=2005 |title=Reciprocal Evolution of the Cerebellum and Neocortex in Fossil Humans |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=102 |issue=10 |pages=3576–3580 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0500692102 |pmid=15731345 |pmc=553338 |bibcode=2005PNAS..102.3576W |doi-access=free }}</ref> areas implicated in tool use,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Orban |first1=Guy A |last2=Caruana |first2=Fausto |date=2014 |title=The Neural Basis of Human Tool Use |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=5 |page=310 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00310 |pmid=24782809 |pmc=3988392 |doi-access=free }}</ref> visuospatial integration,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bruner |first1=Emiliano |last2=Iriki |first2=Atsushi |date=2016 |title=Extending Mind, Visuospatial Integration, and the Evolution of the Parietal Lobes in the Human Genus |journal=Quaternary International |volume=405 |pages=98–110 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.05.019 |bibcode=2016QuInt.405...98B |s2cid=127641606 }}</ref> numeracy,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Piazza |first1=Manuela |last2=Izard |first2=Véronique |date=2009 |title=How Humans Count: Numerosity and the Parietal Cortex |journal=Neuroscientist |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=261–273 |doi=10.1177/1073858409333073 |pmid=19436075 |s2cid=10271553 }}</ref> creativity,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vandervert |first1=Larry R |last2=Schimpf |first2=Paul H |last3=Liu |first3=Hesheng |date=2007 |title=How Working Memory and the Cerebellum Collaborate to Produce Creativity and Innovation |journal=Creativity Research Journal |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1080/10400410709336873 |s2cid=15247122 }}</ref> and higher-order conceptualization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Balsters |first1=Joshua H |last2=Whelan |first2=Christopher D |last3=Robertson |first3=Ian H |last4=Ramnani |first4=Narender |date=2013 |title=Cerebellum and Cognition: Evidence for the Encoding of Higher Order Rules |journal=Cerebral Cortex |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=1433–1443 |doi=10.1093/cercor/bhs127|pmid=22617850 |doi-access=free |hdl=2262/72974 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The differences, while slight, would have possibly been enough to affect natural selection and may underlie and explain the differences in social behaviors, technological innovation, and artistic output.<ref name="Wynnetal2016"/>

[[Jared Diamond]], a supporter of competitive replacement, points out in his book ''[[The Third Chimpanzee]]'' that the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans is comparable to patterns of behavior that occur whenever people with advanced technology clash with people with less developed technology.<ref>Diamond, J. (1992). ''The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal''. New York: Harper Collins, p. 45.</ref>

====Division of labour====
In 2006, it was posited that Neanderthal [[division of labour]] between the sexes was less developed than [[Paleolithic#Social organization|Middle Paleolithic ''Homo sapiens'']]. Both male and female Neanderthals participated in the single occupation of hunting big game, such as bison, deer, gazelles, and wild horses. This hypothesis proposes that the Neanderthal's relative lack of labour division resulted in less efficient extraction of resources from the environment as compared to ''Homo sapiens''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kuhn | first1 = Steven L. | last2 = Stiner | first2 = Mary C. | year = 2006| title = What's a Mother to Do? The Division of Labor among Neandertals and Modern Humans in Eurasia | journal = Current Anthropology | volume =  47| issue = 6| pages =  953–981| doi = 10.1086/507197 | s2cid = 42981328 }}</ref>

====Anatomical differences and running ability====
Researchers such as Karen L. Steudel of the [[University of Wisconsin]] have highlighted the relationship of Neanderthal anatomy (shorter and stockier than that of modern humans) and the ability to run and the requirement of energy (30% more).<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Karen L |last1=Steudel-Numbers |first2=Michael J |last2=Tilkens |year=2004 |title=The Effect of Lower Limb Length on the Energetic Cost of Locomotion: Implications for Fossil Hominins |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=95–109 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.06.002|pmid=15288526 |bibcode=2004JHumE..47...95S }}</ref>

Nevertheless, in the recent study, researchers Martin Hora and Vladimir Sladek of [[Charles University in Prague]] show that Neanderthal lower limb configuration, particularly the combination of robust knees, long heels, and short lower limbs, increased the effective mechanical advantage of the Neanderthal knee and ankle extensors, thus reducing the force needed and the energy spent for locomotion significantly. The walking cost of the Neanderthal male is now estimated to be 8–12% higher than that of anatomically modern males, whereas the walking cost of the Neanderthal female is considered to be virtually equal to that of anatomically modern females.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hora | first1 = M | last2 = Sládek | first2 = V | year = 2014 | title = Influence of lower limb configuration on walking cost in Late Pleistocene humans | journal = Journal of Human Evolution | volume =  67| pages =  19–32| doi = 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.09.011 | pmid = 24485350 | bibcode = 2014JHumE..67...19H }}</ref>

Other researchers, like Yoel Rak, from [[Tel-Aviv University]] in [[Israel]], have noted that the fossil records show that Neanderthal [[pelvis]]es in comparison to modern human pelvises would have made it much harder for Neanderthals to absorb shocks and to bounce off from one step to the next, giving modern humans another advantage over Neanderthals in running and walking ability. However, Rak also notes that all archaic humans had wide pelvises, indicating that this is the ancestral morphology and that modern humans underwent a shift towards narrower pelvises in the late Pleistocene.<ref>{{cite web | title = Science: Neanderthals puzzle the anthropologists | publisher = New Scientist | date = 27 April 1991 | first = Roger | last = Lewin | access-date = January 1, 2011 | url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13017664.500-science-neanderthals-puzzle-the-anthropologists-.html
}}</ref>

====Modern humans and alliance with dogs ====
Pat Shipman argues that the [[domestication of the dog]] gave modern humans an advantage when [[hunting]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Shipman | first1 = P | year = 2012 | title = Dog domestication may have helped humans thrive while Neandertals declined | url = http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/do-the-eyes-have-it/1 | journal = American Scientist | volume = 100 | issue = 3| page = 198 | doi = 10.1511/2012.96.198 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> Evidence shows the oldest remains of domesticated dogs were found in [[Belgium]] (31,700 BP) and in [[Siberia]] (33,000 BP).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ovodov | first1 = ND | last2 = Crockford | first2 = SJ | last3 = Kuzmin | first3 = YV | last4 = Higham | first4 = TFG | last5 = Hodgins | first5 = GWL | display-authors = etal   | year = 2011 | title = A 33,000-Year-Old Incipient Dog from the Altai Mountains of Siberia: Evidence of the Earliest Domestication Disrupted by the Last Glacial Maximum | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 6 | issue = 7| page = e22821 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0022821 | pmid=21829526 | pmc=3145761| bibcode = 2011PLoSO...622821O | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Germonpré | first1 = M. | last2 = Sablin | first2 = M.V. | last3 = Stevens | first3 = R.E. | last4 = Hedges | first4 = R.E.M. | last5 = Hofreiter | first5 = M. | last6 = Stiller | first6 = M. | last7 = Jaenicke-Desprese | first7 = V. | year = 2009 | title = Fossil dogs and wolves from Palaeolithic sites in Belgium, the Ukraine and Russia: osteometry, ancient DNA and stable isotopes | journal = [[Journal of Archaeological Science]] | volume = 36 | issue = 2| pages = 473–490 | doi=10.1016/j.jas.2008.09.033| bibcode = 2009JArSc..36..473G }}</ref>  A survey of early sites of modern humans and Neanderthals with faunal remains across [[Spain]], [[Portugal]] and [[France]] provided an overview of what modern humans and Neanderthals ate.<ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.002 | pmid=23422239 | volume=64 | issue=4 | title=Rabbits and hominin survival in Iberia | year=2013 | journal=Journal of Human Evolution | pages=233–241 | last1 = Fa | first1 = John E. | last2 = Stewart | first2 = John R. | last3 = Lloveras | first3 = Lluís | last4 = Vargas | first4 = J. Mario| bibcode=2013JHumE..64..233F }}</ref> [[Rabbit]] became more frequent, while large [[mammal]]s – mainly eaten by the Neanderthals – became increasingly rare. In 2013, DNA testing on the "Altai dog", a [[Paleolithic]] dog's remains from the Razboinichya Cave ([[Altai Mountains]]), has linked this 33,000-year-old dog with the present lineage of ''[[Canis familiaris]]''.<ref name=altai-dog-dna>{{cite journal | last1 = Druzhkova | first1 = AS | last2 = Thalmann | first2 = O | last3 = Trifonov | first3 = VA | last4 = Leonard | first4 = JA | last5 = Vorobieva | first5 = NV | display-authors = etal   | year = 2013 | title = Ancient DNA Analysis Affirms the Canid from Altai as a Primitive Dog | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 8 | issue = 3| page = e57754 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0057754 | pmid=23483925 | pmc=3590291| bibcode = 2013PLoSO...857754D | doi-access = free }}</ref>

===Interbreeding===
At the time of the last Neanderthals, approximately 45 to 40 thousand years ago, genetic analysis suggests that there was a gene flow from Neanderthals to modern humans of around 10%, but almost no flow from modern humans to Neanderthals. This may be an artifact due to the small number of late Neanderthal genomes, or because hybrids were not viable in Neanderthal groups, or because fertile Neanderthals were being absorbed into modern human groups but not vice versa. If the effect was real over an extended period, it would have increased the size of the modern human gene pool and reduced that of the already sparse Neanderthals, contributing to reduce their numbers below a viable population and thus to their extinction.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Li|first=Liming |display-authors=etal| journal=Science |title=Recurrent gene flow between Neanderthals and modern humans over the past 200,000 years|volume=185 |number=158  |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi1768  |date=12 July 2024 |page=8 |doi=10.1126/science.adi1768 |bibcode=2024Sci...385i1768L |issn= |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last1= Stringer|first1=Chris |last2=Crete |first2=Lucia| journal=PaleoAnthropology |title=Mapping Interactions of Homo neanderthalis and Homo sapiens From the Fossil and Genetic Records|volume= |number= 2 |date=2022 |page=407 |issn=1545-0031 }}</ref>

===Inbreeding===
According to a study by Rios et al, kinship patterns among recovered Neanderthal remains suggests that there was inbreeding,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ríos |first1=L |last2=Kivell |first2=R.L |last3=Lalueza-Fox |first3=C |display-authors=etal |date=8 February 2019 |title=Skeletal Anomalies in The Neandertal Family of El Sidrón (Spain) Support A Role of Inbreeding in Neandertal Extinction |journal=Sci Rep |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=1697 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.1697R |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-38571-1 |pmc=6368597 |pmid=30737446}}</ref> such as pairings between half-siblings and/or uncle/aunt and niece/nephew.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prüfer |first1=K |display-authors=etal |date=5 Oct 2017 |title=A high-coverage Neandertal genome from Vindija Cave in Croatia. |journal=Science |volume=356 |issue=6363 |pages=655–658 |bibcode=2017Sci...358..655P |doi=10.1126/science.aao1887 |pmc=6185897 |pmid=28982794}}</ref> Researchers hypothesize that Neanderthals may have become isolated into small groups during harsh climatic conditions, which contributed to inbreeding behaviours.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vasesen |first1=K |last2=Scherjob |first2=F |last3=Hemerik |first3=L |last4=Verpoorte |first4=A |date=November 27, 2019 |title=Inbreeding, Allee effects and stochasticity might be sufficient to account for Neanderthal extinction |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=14 |issue=11 |pages=e0225117 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1425117V |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0225117 |pmc=6880983 |pmid=31774843 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Due to the lack of genetic diversity, Neanderthal populations would have become more vulnerable to climatic changes, diseases, and other stressors, which may have contributed to their extinction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ríos |first1=L |last2=Kivell |first2=T.L |last3=Lalueza-Fox |first3=C |display-authors=etal |title=Skeletal Anomalies in The Neandertal Family of El Sidrón (Spain) Support A Role of Inbreeding in Neandertal Extinction |journal=Sci Rep |date=8 February 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1697 |page=1697 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-38571-1 |pmid=30737446 |pmc=6368597 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.1697R }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vaesen |first1=Krist |title=Inbreeding, Allee effects and stochasticity might be sufficient to account for Neanderthal extinction |journal=PLOS ONE |date=November 27, 2019 |volume=14 |issue=11 |pages=e0225117 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0225117 |pmid=31774843 |pmc=6880983 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1425117V |doi-access=free }}</ref> A similar model to the inbreeding hypothesis can be seen among endangered lowland gorillas. Their populations are so small that it has caused inbreeding, making them even more vulnerable to extinction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hedrick |first1=Philip W. |last2=Kalinowski |first2=Steven T. |year=2000 |title=Inbreeding Depression in Conservation Biology |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=139–162 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.31.1.139 |jstor=221728|bibcode=2000AnRES..31..139H }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Macdonald |first1=James |date=January 28, 2019 |title=When Endangered Wildlife Gets Inbred |url=https://daily.jstor.org/when-endangered-wildlife-gets-inbred/ |website=JSTOR Daily}}</ref>

===Climate change===
{{see also|Neanderthals of Gibraltar#Lifestyle of the Gibraltar Neanderthals}}
Their ultimate extinction coincides with [[Heinrich event]] 4, a period of intense seasonality; later Heinrich events are also associated with massive cultural turnovers when European human populations collapsed.<ref name=bradtmoller2012>{{cite journal |first1=M. |last1=Bradtmöller |first2=A. |last2=Pastoors |first3=B. |last3=Weninger |first4=G. |last4=Weninger |year=2012 |title=The repeated replacement model – Rapid climate change and population dynamics in Late Pleistocene Europe |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |volume=247 |pages=38–49 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2010.10.015 |bibcode=2012QuInt.247...38B}}</ref><ref name=wolf2018>{{cite journal |first1=D. |last1=Wolf |first2=T. |last2=Kolb |first3=M. |last3=Alcaraz-Castaño |first4=S. |last4=Heinrich |year=2018 |title=Climate deteriorations and Neanderthal demise in interior Iberia |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=7048 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-25343-6 |pmid=29728579 |pmc=5935692 |bibcode=2018NatSR...8.7048W}}</ref> This climate change may have depopulated several regions of Neanderthals, like previous cold spikes, but these areas were instead repopulated by immigrating humans, leading to Neanderthal extinction.<ref name="Staubwasser">{{cite journal |last1=Staubwasser |first1=M. |last2=Drăgușin |first2=V. |last3=Onac |first3=B. P. |year=2018 |title=Impact of climate change on the transition of Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=115 |issue=37 |pages=9116–9121 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.9116S |doi=10.1073/pnas.1808647115 |pmc=6140518 |pmid=30150388 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In southern Iberia, there is evidence that Neanderthal populations declined during H4 and the associated proliferation of ''[[Artemisia (plant)|Artemisia]]''-dominated desert-steppes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=d’Errico |first1=Francesco |last2=Sánchez Goñi |first2=Marı́a Fernanda |date=April 2003 |title=Neandertal extinction and the millennial scale climatic variability of OIS 3 |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S027737910300009X |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |language=en |volume=22 |issue=8–9 |pages=769–788 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00009-X |bibcode=2003QSRv...22..769D |access-date=March 14, 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The data reveal that sudden climatic change, although crucial locally, had a limited effect on the worldwide Neanderthal population. Interbreeding and assimilation, which were hypothesized as causes in the death of European Neanderthal populations, are successful only for low levels of food competition. Future research will examine models of interbreeding, and hybridization may be evaluated using genomic records from the last ice age (Fu et al., 2016).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Timmermann |first=Axel |date=June 2020 |title=Quantifying the potential causes of Neanderthal extinction: Abrupt climate change versus competition and interbreeding |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=238 |pages=106331 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106331|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020QSRv..23806331T }}</ref>

===Natural catastrophe===
{{main|Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption}}

A number of researchers have argued that the [[Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption]], a volcanic eruption near Naples, Italy, about 39,280 ± 110 years ago (older estimate ~37,000 years), erupting about {{convert|200|km3|cumi|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} of magma ({{convert|500|km3|cumi|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} bulk volume) contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals.<ref>{{cite journal  | last = Fisher  | first = Richard V.  |author2=Giovanni Orsi |author3=Michael Ort |author4=Grant Heiken   | title = Mobility of a large-volume pyroclastic flow – emplacement of the Campanian ignimbrite, Italy  | journal = Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research  | volume = 56  | issue = 3  | pages =205–220  | date = June 1993  | url = http://volcanology.geol.ucsb.edu/camptuff.htm  | doi = 10.1016/0377-0273(93)90017-L  | access-date = 2008-09-20|bibcode = 1993JVGR...56..205F | url-access = subscription  }}</ref> The argument has been developed by Golovanova et al.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Significance of Ecological Factors in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=51 |issue=5 |page=655 |doi=10.1086/656185 |year=2010 |last1=Golovanova |first1=Liubov Vitaliena |last2=Doronichev |first2=Vladimir Borisovich |last3=Cleghorn |first3=Naomi Elansia |last4=Koulkova |first4=Marianna Alekseevna |last5=Sapelko |first5=Tatiana Valentinovna |last6=Shackley |first6=M. Steven |s2cid=144299365 }}</ref><ref name=volcanoes>{{cite news | url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100922-volcanoes-eruptions-neanderthals-science-volcanic-humans/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100924164612/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100922-volcanoes-eruptions-neanderthals-science-volcanic-humans/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 24, 2010 | title = Volcanoes Killed Off Neanderthals, Study Suggests | last = Than | first = Ker |date = September 22, 2010 | work = National Geographic | access-date = 23 September 2010}}</ref> The hypothesis posits that although Neanderthals had encountered several [[Interglacial]]s during 250,000 years in Europe,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gilligan | first1 = I | year = 2007 | title = Neanderthal extinction and modern human behaviour: the role of climate change and clothing | journal = World Archaeology | volume = 39 | issue = 4| pages = 499–514 | doi=10.1080/00438240701680492| hdl = 1885/28508 | s2cid = 162388264 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> inability to adapt their hunting methods caused their extinction facing ''H. sapiens'' competition when Europe changed into a sparsely vegetated steppe and semi-desert during the last Ice Age.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040211022642/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0209_040209_neandertals.html Climate Change Killed Neandertals, Study Says], National Geographic News</ref> Studies of sediment layers at [[Mezmaiskaya Cave]] suggest a severe reduction of plant pollen.<ref name=volcanoes/> The damage to plant life would have led to a corresponding decline in plant-eating mammals hunted by the Neanderthals.<ref name=volcanoes/><ref name=volcanoes2>{{cite news | url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101006094057.htm | title = Volcanoes wiped out Neanderthals, new study suggests (ScienceDaily) | date = 7 October 2010 | work = University of Chicago Press Journals | access-date = 7 October 2010}}</ref><ref>[http://zdf-enterprises.de/en/catalogue/international/zdfefactual/science-knowledge/apocalypse-neanderthal ''Neanderthal Apocalypse''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120123835/https://zdf-enterprises.de/en/catalogue/international/zdfefactual/science-knowledge/apocalypse-neanderthal |date=2017-11-20 }} Documentary film, ZDF Enterprises, 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2016.</ref>

===Magnetic reversal===
Some researchers have suggested that the [[Laschamp event|Laschamps geomagnetic excursion]], a short reversal of Earth's magnetic field around 41,000 years ago, may have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals. The excursion caused a weakening of the intensity of the magnetic field which protects Earth from harmful radiation, including [[ultraviolet radiation]], which is dangerous to humans. It is argued that modern humans may have been less susceptible to the radiation's damaging effects than Neanderthals because they used [[ochre]] as a sunshield and wore tailored clothing, which provides more protection than the Neanderthals' simple draped clothing.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Mukhopadhyay|first=Agnit |display-authors=etal| journal= Science Advances|title=Wandering of the auroral oval 41,000 years ago|volume=11 |number=16  |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq7275?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ScienceAdviser&utm_content=distillation&et_rid=95028852&et_cid=5592294 |doi= 10.1126/sciadv.adq7275|date= 16 April 2025|pages= |issn= |doi-access=free|pmc=12002135}}</ref>