An individual-based network model explains Neanderthal extinction through competitive exclusion

This paper presents an alternative social/economic explanation for the Neanderthals’ demise along similar lines with the competitive exclusion principle. We represent individuals as network nodes such that each link corresponds to an acquaintanceship between the respective nodes. We rely on the findings that Sapiens were more socially developed compared to Neanderthals. Running individual-based simulations under the assumption that Sapiens initially lived in larger and more connected groups, we illustrate how the two species’ social structures might have further evolved in opposite directions and how such an evolution might have favored Sapiens in their competition against Neanderthals.