Scientists are still debating exactly what wiped them out, but most theories fall into a few key categories:
The "Neanderthal Apocalypse" refers to the relatively sudden disappearance of our closest ancient relatives about 40,000 years ago. While they survived in Eurasia for over 300,000 years, their story came to an end shortly after Homo sapiens arrived on the scene. The Main Theories of the "Apocalypse" Neanderthal Apocalypse
: Modern humans arrived with slightly different social structures and technology. We may have simply been more efficient at gathering resources, slowly pushing Neanderthals into marginal areas where they couldn't survive. Scientists are still debating exactly what wiped them
One of the most fascinating twists in this "apocalypse" is that Neanderthals didn't entirely vanish. DNA analysis shows that modern humans outside of Africa carry about . This means that instead of a total wipeout, there was a period of interbreeding. In a sense, they live on through us, influencing everything from our immune systems to certain modern health traits. We may have simply been more efficient at
