Were volcanoes to blame for Neanderthal’s disappearance?
Australopithecines, homo erectus, Neanderthals, all the hominids that just didn’t make the evolutionary cut, but “Why” one asks? A new theory suggests our fine, fuzzy friends of yore, Neanderthals, may have fallen victim to a series of volcanic eruptions in Europe around 40,000 years ago.
Eruptions in the Caucasus Mountains may have produced enough ash to have affected the plant population, which would have caused the large mammal population Neanderthals depended on for food to take a dive. Surviving hominids had “backup populations” in other areas of the world, but Neanderthals were limited to Europe as far as we know.
Full story at Neatorama.
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