Humans Outlived Neanderthals Likely Because of Differences in Anatomy and Social Skills

For more than 20 years, advertisements for an auto insurance company have featured an offended caveman who takes issue with the company’s tagline that enrolling is so easy that even a caveman can do it. The caveman is a Neanderthal, but other than his pronounced brow bridge, he’s depicted with human-like features that allow him to fit into his suburban neighborhood and corporate office.

Neanderthals, however, were distinguishable from early Homo sapiens. They had clear physical differences as well as profoundly distinct social behaviors. For early humans, these differences turned out to be advantages that helped them survive in an increasingly cold and challenging landscape.

Early Humans Had Better Survival Skills

H. sapiens and Neanderthals did live at the same time. Humans evolved about 300,000 years ago in Africa. Homo neanderthalensis evolved around 400,000 years ago but went extinct about 40,000 years ago, which means the two species existed simultaneously for around 260,000 years.

So how did humans survive while Neanderthals saw their numbers dwindle? There are many reasons, including humans’ ability to better adapt to their landscape. The period known as the Ice Age began about 115,000 years ago and introduced fluctuating, sometimes extreme temperatures.

Early humans were better able to survive cold temperatures than Neanderthals and other hominins, who were more exposed to the elements.

“Hypothermia can kill in minutes,” says John J. Shea, a professor in the department of anthropology at Stony Brook University and the author of The Unstoppable Human Species: The Emergence of Homo Sapiens in Prehistory.

Early humans were able to develop strategies to prevent hypothermia.

“One of the most effective ways to prevent hypothermia is by making and wearing thermally-efficient clothing, clothing tailored to one’s body shape with string-ties at the wrist, waist, and ankles, as well as gloves and boots and coverings for one’s neck and the top of one’s head,” Shea says.

Scientists have several forms of evidence that demonstrate how early humans were creating winter gear while Neanderthals lacked such cold-weather protection.

“Archaeological remains associated with early humans contain things associated with leatherworking among recent humans, red ochre, specialized hide-scraping tools, and bone needles,” Shea says.

The same tools are not associated with Neanderthal remains. Although they likely had some sort of clothing, they were not making cold-weather gear.

Read More: Discovering Our Roots: An Introduction to the History of Human Evolution

H. sapiens Had Greater Physical Advantages

In addition to having the ability to make survival gear in cold weather, early humans could also complain about bad weather in ways that Neanderthals likely could not. In comparison to other mammals, Shea says that humans have “oddly-shaped heads” that allow for a “flexed upper respiratory tract.”

Our angled oral-laryngeal tract enables people to produce distinct sounds that early humans were able to assign meaning to. As language evolved, early humans solidified both the meaning of words and the order in which they were spoken. Such an advantage allowed them to share warnings, collaborate, and problem-solve.

“At some point in early human evolution, speech was, literally, an ability ‘to die for,’” Shea says.

Neanderthals lacked the flexed upper respiratory tract. “They could probably vocalize, but more slowly and with less distinct sounds,” Shea says.

Social Skills Helped H. sapiens Survive and Evolve

Being able to speak and share ideas allowed humans to develop collaborative societies. Unlike other primates, humans will work together to raise children, including those that are not their own kin.

“Ape societies offer up nothing quite like kindergarten,” Shea says.

Humans’ ability to collaborate and help each other — even those who were unrelated — enabled them to survive harsh climates and to push out of Africa and into Eurasia. Neanderthals and other hominins were not able to adapt and went extinct. Around 30,000 years ago, H.sapiens became the last remaining hominins on Earth.

Read More: Neanderthal vs Homo Sapiens: How Are Neanderthals Different From Humans?

Article Sources

Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:

• Cell Genomics. Long genetic and social isolation in Neanderthals before their extinction
• Ian Gilligan. Climate, Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory: Linking Evidence, Causes, and Effects
• John J. Shea. The Unstoppable Human Species: The Emergence of Homo Sapiens in Prehistory
• Quaternary Environments and Humans. How and why is Homo sapiens so successful?