Faith James

Hour 6 Biology
Neanderthals VS Humans

Humans and Neanderthals lived alongside each other for thousands of years, but only
the humans survived to walk the earth today. What happened to the Neanderthals remains a
mystery, but scientists have many hypotheses that enlighten the idea that humans might have
affected the Neanderthals' path to extinction. There is proof of direct human-Neanderthal
interactions that could have lead Neanderthals into extinction by being outnumbered, turning to
cannibalism, and simply losing to natural selection.
Fossil evidence of Neanderthal and even human bones stripped of flesh have been
found in France pointing towards the theory that due to food shortages and competition for
resources with humans, Neanderthals had resorted to cannibalism. This practice took a toll on
the those who consumed their own species; causing diseases and mental impairments. An
epidemic similar to mad cow disease wouldve wiped out thousands (DNews, 2014). This
wouldve given humans the opportunity to thrive into the species they are today without having
to live alongside the threatening
Neanderthal species.
With a new species of
humanoid emerging from Africa the
native species, Neanderthals,
could've been pushed into the
undesirable land with limited
resources. Outnumbered 10 to 1,
they wouldve been left with a low
population and few resources
(DNews, 2014). Without adequate
resources to make shelter and
food, the Neanderthal's population
would have dwindled until there
were so few Neanderthals left that
they were reduced to inbreeding,
which would cause severe medical
problems, like hemophilia. Other
medical problems could include
reduced fertility, lower birth rate,
and loss of immune system
(Inbreeding Wiki, 2014). This would
be fatal for any species living in an
ancient and active society. Gradually, the species wouldve been wiped out.
The human vs Neanderthal period could have been a classic brain versus brawn.
Although Neanderthals show signs of creativity, their smaller brain had no chance to match the
human brain. Although they were somewhat intelligent, they didn't show signs of having a
complex language. Going up against a species with good teamwork and strategy skills when
your own species can barely communicate would have been dramatically unfair. The
Neanderthals didnt have a chance to survive alongside the humans. With intelligence on their
side, human-kind wouldve been able to invent many tools to aid them against not only nature
but the other humanoid species. The image above shows how humans are better fitted for long
distance running whereas Neanderthals would have been better suited for short distance
running. With only their brute strength to challenge the human race's intelligence, Neanderthals
would have slowly lost to natural selection (DNews, 2014).
With the limited information we glean from Neanderthal fossils, there are many
possibilities of what could've happened. Some of the strongest hypotheses are that the
Neanderthal's resorted to cannibalism, Neanderthal's population dwindled causing them to
resort to inbreeding and competing directly with humans, and their smaller brains couldn't match
that of a human. With recent DNA studying, the mystery of the end of the Neanderthal race
could be confirmed, but we are left to conclude that they simply couldn't match humans.