Unrelated To The Previous...

...post. (Just to make sure you know, any resemblance to Angry Tom is purely coincidental)

When did Neanderthals become extinct?

"By analyzing ancient remains across Europe, a team led by investigators have pinpointed the timing the Neanderthals’ extinction to between 39,000 and 41,000 years ago.

Neanderthals overlapped with early modern humans and, based on genetic evidence, interbred with them. However, the extent of the overlap of the two in terms of time and geography is still not fully known. New research has highlighted a shorter time frame for the potential interaction of humans with Neanderthals than other studies have shown. Many scientists think that there was a coexistence of Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe between about 30,000 to 40,000 years, possibly extending to even more recently. The new research appears to contradict this."

Neanderthals: BFFs and frenemies of modern humans

"Far from wiping out Neanderthals overnight, modern humans co-existed with their shorter and stockier cousins for thousands of years, giving plenty of time for the two groups to share ideas – and even squeeze in a bit of time for sex.

The most accurate timeline yet for the demise of our closest relatives, published in the journal Nature on Aug 20, shows that Neanderthals overlapped with present-day humans in Europe for between 2,600 and 5,400 years before disappearing about 40,000 years ago."

Neanderthals, modern humans co-existed for 5,000 years

"Previous studies suggest that modern humans and Neanderthals co-existed for as less as 500 years. However, taking help from the new radiocarbon dating techniques, a group of international researchers suggest that Neanderthals died around 40,000 years ago but lived and mixed with modern humans for over 5,000 years in Europe before becoming extinct."

[---]

"Recent studies indicate that up to 2.1 percent of the DNA of modern non-African humans is derived from Neanderthals."