Scientists Uncover the Event That Drastically Reduced Neanderthal Populations Across Eurasia
Indian Defence Review • • science
Key Points:
- New genetic research reveals that Neanderthals experienced a significant population bottleneck tens of thousands of years before their extinction, drastically reducing their genetic diversity and population size well before modern humans arrived.
- This bottleneck suggests Neanderthals were survivors of an earlier collapse, living in fragmented habitats across Eurasia rather than as a stable, widespread population in their final millennia.
- Harsh climatic conditions during the last glacial period, particularly around 65,000−60,000 years ago, likely forced Neanderthals into isolated refugia, intensifying their genetic vulnerability and accelerating their decline.
- Genetic analysis shows that some Neanderthal groups previously thought isolated were actually part of broader interconnected populations, indicating a more complex population structure than assumed.
- The final decline in Neanderthal populations began around 45,000 years ago, overlapping with the expansion of Homo sapiens, and their legacy persists in modern humans through interbreeding evidenced by Neanderthal DNA in our genomes.
