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Homo Sapiens Essay

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Homo sapiens were a potent factor on eliminating the remaining Neanderthal population due to their intelligence (Echoes). Researchers of Oxford University that compared the skulls of 32 Homo sapiens and 13 Neanderthals concluded that the Neanderthals had significantly larger eye sockets. Explanation: Although the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had similar brain sizes, the larger eyes of the Neanderthals were an adaptation to the long, dark nights of Europe which would have required large visual processing areas in the brain. In addition, the Neanderthals also had massive bodies which would have required more brain cells to control their physique, thus they had less brain power available to them compared with the Homo sapiens. Neanderthals had physical features that helped them survive cold climates, including large noses to humidify and warm dry, cold air and short, stout bodies to …show more content…

Recent studies suggests that more than 60 cubic miles of ash were blasted into the atmosphere and covered a vast area of eastern Europe, North Africa and western Asia. Vast plumes of ash would have blotted out the sun for months, or possibly years, and caused temperatures to plummet. Sulphur dioxide, fluoride and chloride emissions would have generated intense falls of acid rain. Explanation: Since the Neanderthals did not have up-to-date primitive technologies like their counterparts, they were more susceptible to the negative impacts of the eruption. For example, the sudden drops in temperatures following the eruption would have led many Neanderthals to freeze to death, and during those dreary years, the blotting of the sun would have led to a dramatic decrease in plant life, which would have led to a scarcity of prey, such as deer, and in turn affect the Neanderthal population as there would have been an insufficiency of food for them due to their outdated weapons and hunting

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