THE FUSE

For years, the disappearance of Neanderthals has remained one of the most debated questions in human history. These early humans survived harsh Ice Age environments for hundreds of thousands of years, yet they vanished around 40,000 years ago. Scientists have proposed many explanations for the Neanderthal extinction cause, but no single answer fully explained their decline—until now. New research is shifting the focus toward a deeper factor: how different human species organized and supported each other socially. This fresh perspective on Neanderthals vs Homo sapiens survival is helping researchers piece together a more complete explanation.