The secret of survival: how raising children helped humans outlast the Neanderthals

Once upon a time, humans and Neanderthals lived side by side on Earth, but about 40 thousand years ago, the latter disappeared, reports DailyMail.

Among the reasons for the extinction of Neanderthals are inbreeding, climate change, and fierce clashes with humans. Now another reason has been added to this list.

A new study based on the analysis of ancient teeth has shown that humans spent more time caring for their children, while Neanderthal children had to grow up faster. The authors of the study suggest that this could be one of the reasons for the disappearance of Neanderthals.

The data showed that children of Neanderthals who lived between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago, as well as children of people from the Upper Paleolithic era (between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago), experienced the same level of stress. However, this stress occurred at different stages of their development.

A team of scientists from the University of Tübingen in Germany believes that these results reflect differences in childcare.

The study analyzed the enamel of 423 Neanderthal teeth and 444 human teeth from the Upper Paleolithic period.

Experts note that horizontal grooves on thinner tooth enamel indicate stress at an early age, which can be caused by illness, infection, malnutrition, nutrient deficiencies, and trauma.

In general, the number of such grooves on the teeth of children and Neanderthals was approximately the same. However, enamel defects in different species appeared at different stages of development. In Upper Paleolithic humans, defects appeared at the age of 1 to 3 years, when weaning usually occurs.

In Neanderthals, defects appeared in the period after weaning. Perhaps at this time, Neanderthal children were more likely to suffer from malnutrition.

In human children of the Paleolithic period, stress could be caused by increased energy requirements. However, their parents were probably able to reduce stress by providing long-term care and access to food.

This parenting strategy was apparently not used by Neanderthals, which ultimately contributed to the long-term survival advantage of humans.

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