DID HOMO SAPIENS AND THEIR "DOGS" DRIVE NEANDERTHALS TO EXTINCTION?

A new book, by anthropologist, Pat Shipman, “The Invaders“, argues that humans and their dogs drove Neanderthals to extinction.

She presents evidence that homo sapiens, who arrived in northern Europe 40,000 years ago, formed a partnership with wolves, which they domesticated into “wolf dogs.” The skeletal remains of these animals differ from those of both wolves, and the dogs that would come along later in history.

She says the wolf-dog helped early humans to hunt, turning them into super predators that dominated their environment. Ms. Shipman says humans thus became an “invasive species,” and drove the dog-less Neanderthals to extinction.