Neanderthal extinction by competitive exclusion
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Issue Date
2008-12-24Author
Banks, William E.
D'Errico, Francesco
Peterson, A. Townsend
Kageyama, Masa
Sima, Adriana
Sanchez-Goni, Maria-Fernanda
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background
Despite a long history of investigation, considerable debate revolves around whether Neanderthals became extinct because of climate change or competition with anatomically modern humans (AMH).Methodology/Principal Findings
We apply a new methodology integrating archaeological and chronological data with high-resolution paleoclimatic simulations to define eco-cultural niches associated with Neanderthal and AMH adaptive systems during alternating cold and mild phases of Marine Isotope Stage 3. Our results indicate that Neanderthals and AMH exploited similar niches, and may have continued to do so in the absence of contact.Conclusions/Significance
The southerly contraction of Neanderthal range in southwestern Europe during Greenland Interstadial 8 was not due to climate change or a change in adaptation, but rather concurrent AMH geographic expansion appears to have produced competition that led to Neanderthal extinction.
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Citation
Banks WE, d'Errico F, Peterson AT, Kageyama M, Sima A, et al. (2008) Neanderthal extinction by competitive exclusion. PLoS ONE 3(12): e3972. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003972
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