Neanderthals Became Extinct Because of Larger Eyes
A study created by British scientists comes to the conclusion that Neanderthals died out because they had larger eyes than we did. Neanderthals and Homo sapiens lived at roughly the same time, but the Neanderthals became extinct 28,000 years ago.
Scientists think that Neanderthals originated in Africa where there was enough daylight. When they came to Europe they had to get used to longer, darker nights. A larger part of their brain was used to envision the objects around them. On the other side, Homo sapiens used more of their brains to get together and live with others, and find solutions to survive during the Ice Age. They used larger parts of their brain to find ways of making warmer clothes, which gave them a better chance of survival.
The study, however, rejects the fact that Neanderthals were a stupid species. In fact, they were probably as intelligent as Homo sapiens but small details, like bigger eye sockets may be the cause for their extinction.
The British study, for the first time, tries to point out how brains of prehistoric species differed from each other. Up to now we have only been aware of how their sizes and structure differed.
Related Topics
- Neanderthals - Early Humans in Europe and Asia
- Stone Age
- Pygmies - Short People of the Tropical Rainforest
- Oldest Human Fossil Found Outside Africa
Words
- become extinct = die out
- conclusion = result
- create = make
- differ = be different
- envision = picture, see
- eye socket = hole in your head in which your eyes lie
- Homo sapiens = the type of human being that exists today
- however = but
- originate = come from
- point out = explain
- prehistoric = the time before things were written down
- reject = does not allow
- roughly = generally, almost
- scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a laboratory
- solution = way out of a problem
- species = group of animals or plants that are almost the same and produce young ones together
- study = piece of work that is done in order to find out more facts about something
- survive = live on in a dangerous situation