Homo Sapiens dominant

[Ursus]

Homo Sapiens are the only surviving human race because their brains were more dedicated to language and planning than their rivals:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13874671

[caldrail]

That's been the most common theory for a long time. The trouble with these dramatic reconstructions is that they're made by filmmakers, not the experts they consult. According to an article in New Scientist, one other reason for our survival in the difficult 'genesis' era was that we were willing to breed with other hominids. Face it, jokes aside, human beings like sex and ain't all that fussy when there's little choice. The result was a hybrid strain that inherited improved resistance to disease.

 

There is some evidence that we also interbred with neanderthals too. When the next episode features them, I'll be interested to see whether the program mentions that, or simply tells us we were winners in some sort of primitive conquest.

 

You see, the problem is that we tend to look at the migrations and expansion of human beings almost in the same light as a modern invasion. Of course it wasn't. There was no overall coordination whatsoever, as small groups moved into fresh territory independently in search of resources. Also, the program doesn't emphasise that human beings failed to 'conquer' new territory more than once. There were possibly more than eight migrations to ice age Britain before they were able to survive there permanently. That was nothing to do with inter-species competition, simply a climatic battle.

Edited June 26, 2011 by caldrail