Was Climate Change Responsible For The Neanderthals' Disappearance?

Previous research has shown that the disappearance of Neaderthals (Homo neaderthalensis) from Europe occurred an estimated 40,000 years ago. Yet new research reveals that these hominids could have disappeared near the Iberian Peninsula just about 45,000 years ago.

Findings published in the journal Journal of Human Evolution showed that European Neaderthals disappeared between 41,000 and 39,000 years ago, with fossil remains traced to sites in the Black Sea in Russia and the Atlantic coastline of Spain.

Now researchers are estimating that they may have disappeared 45,000 years ago, based on data found near the El Salt site in the Valencian Community (Spain).

"Both conclusions are complementary and not contradictory," Bertila Galván, lead author of the study and researcher at the Training and Research Unit of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of La Laguna (ULL) (Tenerife, Spain), said in a news release. "The few that provided dates before 43,000 and 45,000 years ago in all cases," noted lead study author Bertila Galván, who Galván, who says that there are more contextual datings, discussing the . "Those which offer recent dates are usually labeled as dubious or have very small amounts of lithic material that can tell us little."

Researchers believe that some of their disappearance can be linked to climate change. For instance, as the climate became colder, with harsher environmental conditions, this created an adverse effect on diminishing populations.