Here’s why human beings triumphed over Neanderthals (and it’s not due to language)

Scientists have long puzzled over why homo sapiens triumphed over other forms of early man – was it our ability to master language, or our ability to form social groups?

No, a new study has suggested – it was our ability to adapt to all forms of weather, from hot deserts to icy mountains.

Homo sapiens were ‘jack of all trades’, or ‘generalist specialists’, who rapidly adapted to new environments, according to researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute.

This meant that homo sapiens could adapt to – and thrive in – all environments, giving them a key advantage over other hominins.

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Dr Patrick Robert, of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History said, ‘Definitions of our species have tended to focus on differences in capacities for symbolism, language, social networking, technological competence and cognitive development.

‘/We argue, based on comparison with the available information for other members of the genus Homo, that our species developed a new ecological niche, that of the ‘generalist specialist’.

‘Understanding this ecological niche provides a framework for discussing what it means to be human and how our species became the last surviving hominin on the planet.’