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Extinction of Neanderthals

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Death; Elimination

Definition

The process of coming to an end or dying out, annihilation, being extinguished.

Introduction

Between 60 and 40 thousand years ago (kya), during a time period known as Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS-3), the species Homo neanderthalensis, or, Neanderthals, disappeared. There is still debate around what caused their disappearance. The two hypotheses that have garnered the most research and attention are climate change and competition with modern humans. The first uses changes in the environment as the cause of Neanderthal extinction, especially considering how many there were, and how drastic they were during the period (Finlayson and Carrion 2007; Jimenez-Espejo et al. 2006). The second argues that a more likely explanation of Neanderthal extinction comes from either direct or indirect competition with modern humans (Banks et al. 2008). Naturally of course there is also the argument that both of these factors influenced Neanderthal extinction in their...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, USA

    Olivia Jewell

Authors
  1. Olivia Jewell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olivia Jewell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Dominican College, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Haley Dillon

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Jewell, O. (2018). Extinction of Neanderthals. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_292-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_292-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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