![]() The causes of Neanderthal disappearance fueled a vigorous scientific debate and a number of hypotheses have been put forward to account for their demise (for a recent review see ). Neanderthals, who were the only humans on the European territory, disappeared during the OIS 3, when Homo sapiens arrived. We have come to the understanding that the Neanderthals emerged from the European branch of Homo heidelbergensis and that their differentiation in Europe has been the result of a long evolutionary process. Since the discovery of the first Neanderthal specimens in 1856, their origin, evolution, differentiation, variability and genetics have been intensively studied. The Neanderthals, a human metapopulation that lived between 250,000 and 40,000 yrs ago (OIS 7–3), is arguably the best known human fossil group. Our results open the way to non-catastrophic events as plausible explanations for Neanderthal extinction. A slight (<4%) but continuous decrease in the fertility rate of younger Neanderthal women could have had a significant impact on these dynamics, and could have precipitated their demise. We used demographic modeling and simulations to identify the set of plausible demographic parameters of the Neanderthal population compatible with the observed dynamics, and to explore the circumstances under which they might have led to the disappearance of Neanderthals. ![]() In regard to such fossil populations, we inferred demographic parameters from present day and past hunter-gatherer populations, and from bio-anthropological rules. Here, we investigate the disappearance of Neanderthals by examining the extent of demographic changes needed over a period of 10,000 years (yrs) to lead to their extinction. Different hypotheses have been advanced to explain this demise, such as cognitive, adaptive and cultural inferiority of Neanderthals. ![]() The causes of disappearance of the Neanderthals, the only human population living in Europe before the arrival of Homo sapiens, have been debated for decades by the scientific community. ![]()
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