Neanderthals and Climate Change - a good read

[malaise]

ReTHUGs should be very careful about this one
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/modern-humans-didnt-kill-neanderthals-weather-did-180970167/


About 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals began disappearing from Europe, but exactly why they died out is a mystery. Some paleoarchaeologists have hypothesized it’s possible they simply couldn’t reproduce fast enough to keep up with the modern humans moving into Europe around that time. Others suggest modern humans slaughtered any bands of Neanderthal they came across or infected them with novel diseases. And some suggest that an environmental catastrophe, like a volcanic eruption in Europe, killed off many plants and animals.

Researchers propose a new hypothesis this week that suggests our bipedal brethren weren’t equipped to stand a cold spell that accompanied two long periods of extended climate change that took place around the time the species began its decline, Malcolm Ritter at the Associated Press reports.

So why did Neanderthals die out during these climate shifts while modern humans survived? The researchers suggest that because Neanderthals relied heavily on protein from large game animals they had trouble adapting when climate change impacted populations of those animals. Homo sapiens, on the other hand, were more adaptive, eating a variety of plants, fish and meat, meaning they could survive on the cold steppe.

However, the researchers point out that the cold spells didn’t just impact Neanderthals. They continued to ice out modern humans after the Neanderthals disappeared; each time one culture of ancient humans disappeared in the face of a changing climate, another culture replaced them when the world warmed up again.

[panader0]

1. My daughter bought me the 23 and Me DNA test a few years ago.

I followed the directions and sent my saliva in, but in two weeks they informed me they
were unable to find out anything. So they sent me another test and once again there was the
same outcome. Perhaps I'm alien. But I'm pretty sure I have a bit of Neanderthal blood.
Maybe I'll try Ancestry.
Climate change is having an effect on my local climate. When I first moved here many years ago,
40 plus, we had 16 to 18 inches of rain per year. It's been decreasing for quite a while and now
we're lucky to get 12 inches. I fear for my well. Drilling it deeper would be very costly. The wildlife
and plantlife have little question marks over their heads. WTF?

[malaise]

2. Climate change affects everything

and hey you're a pretty nice alien

[abqtommy]

3. At the end of the day it's obvious that Neanderthal has never disappeared. They are here.

They're in our DNA. They are us! Let's not be listening to scientists and researchers who
get paid for spouting nonsense.

[taxi]

4. A theory as to why we are so different from Neanderthals

A researcher suggested that there were several intermediate forms of humans between the Neanderthals and modern man. He explains that conflicts exist more strongly in closely related groups than those at the extremes. In short, and in my own words, it went something like this.

The range of difference in ten similar groups goes from strictly vegetarian to absolute carnivore, with a 10% change from group to group. Saying 50/50 would indicate the group in the center eating equally of both. The 100/0 group has no conflict with the 0/100 and no competition for food either. Should there be a grain shortage however, the 90/10 becomes the greatest threat to survival and ultimately only one of the those two groups survive.

In all the author says that there were species between modern man and neanderthal, with modern man and neanderthal at the extremes. The middle fell out.

[wnylib]

5. I don't see how a colder trend in climate

40,000 years ago would have caused the decline of Neanderthal since they were around for the more extreme cold hundreds of thousands of years earlier.

It seems more likely that the appearance of Homo sapiens in Europe 40,000 years ago would have meant more hominins (related human types) needing and using the same resources. That would mean not enough meat and plant resources for everyone. The most skilled and innovative ones would survive better.

Since Neanderthal genes are found everywhere except sub Saharan Africa, it looks like interbreeding was part of the reason for Nranderthal decline. If waves of the "newer model" of humans coming out of Africa outnumbered the already existing Neanderthal in Europe, then interbreeding would account for a large part of the cause of Neanderthal decline.