What Our World May Have Looked Like If Neanderthals Hadn't Died Off
Discover what our world may be like today if Neanderthals hadn't gone extinct.
By Sara Novak
Jun 28, 2025 9:00 AMJul 2, 2025 3:24 PM
It’s hard to imagine that just 40,000 years ago, there was another species of humans on Earth. Modern humans and Neanderthals lived amongst each other, they interbred, lived in the same caves, hunted similarly, and both made tools.
Then Neanderthals died off. Researchers aren’t completely sure why, though disease, competition, and other factors might have played a role. But in the end, only one group survived. But what would have happened if Neanderthals had survived and lived either alongside Homo sapiens or by themselves?
It’s impossible to know for sure, but researchers do have some clues. Some researchers, like British anthropologist Chris Stringer, say that while it’s too speculative to discern what would have happened if Neanderthals and H. sapiens had both survived, if "Neanderthals had survived instead of us, there was no reason why they couldn't have eventually achieved all the things we have achieved.”
A World for Modern Humans
Others, like French archaeologist Ludovic Slimak, think very differently. He says it’s likely that throughout their entire existence, their traditions would have changed very little. They existed for around 360,000 years before they went extinct, and throughout much of that time, they did things very similarly.
More:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-our-world-may-have-looked-like-if-neanderthals-hadnt-died-off
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