: Just as later human civilizations were devastated by new viruses, Neanderthals might have succumbed to pathogens brought by migrating Homo sapiens that their immune systems weren't prepared for.
For a deep dive into the latest scientific theories, you can explore the Neanderthal Extinction entry on Wikipedia or watch the full Neanderthal Apocalypse documentary on YouTube. Neanderthal Apocalypse
: Some researchers suggest that rapid shifts in the Earth's climate turned their lush hunting grounds into barren steppes. Neanderthals were built for ambush hunting in forests, and they may have struggled to adapt to these new, wide-open landscapes. : Just as later human civilizations were devastated
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. Neanderthals were built for ambush hunting in forests,
: 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.