page_title: Neanderthal
section_title: Competition
hierarchical_section_title: Neanderthal / Culture / Food / Competition
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Hyène des cavernes (Crocuta crocuta spelaea), -1.8/-0.01 million d'années,Aventigan, Hautes-Pyrénées, FranceEnglish: Cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea), 1.8/0.01 million year B.C., Aventigan, Hautes-Pyrénées, France Muséum de Toulouse &#160;&#160;Native nameMuséum de ToulouseLocationToulouse, FranceCoordinates43°&#160;35′&#160;37.89″&#160;N, 1°&#160;26′&#160;57.42″&#160;E Established1796&#58; &#32;established&#160;; 1865&#58; &#32;opened to publicWeb pagewww.museum.toulouse.frAuthority control : Q422 VIAF:&#8201;130895847 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2158 3469 SUDOC:&#8201;028667107 BNF:&#8201;120455376 Museofile:&#8201;M7013 institution QS:P195,Q422
context_page_description: Neanderthals are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. They probably went extinct due to competition with or extermination by immigrating European early modern humans or due to great climatic change, disease, or a combination of these factors.
  It is unclear when Neanderthals split from modern humans; studies have produced various intervals ranging from 315,000 to more than 800,000 years ago. The time of divergence of Neanderthals from their ancestor H. heidelbergensis is also unclear. The oldest potential Neanderthal bones are dated to 430,000 years ago, but the classification is uncertain. Neanderthals are known from numerous fossils, especially from after 130,000 years ago. The type specimen, Neanderthal 1, was found in 1856 in the German Neander Valley. After much debate over their validity, Neanderthals were depicted as being primitive, stupid, and brutish for much of the early 20th century. Though knowledge and perception of them has markedly changed since then in the scientific community, the image of the unevolved caveman archetype remains prevalent in popular culture.
context_section_description: Competition from large Ice Age predators was rather high. Cave lions likely targeted horses, large deer and wild cattle; and leopards primarily reindeer and roe deer; which heavily overlapped with Neanderthal diet. To defend a kill against such ferocious predators, Neanderthals may have engaged in a group display of yelling, arm waving, or stone throwing; or quickly gathered meat and abandoned the kill. However, at Grotte de Spy, Belgium, the remains of wolves, cave lions, and cave bears—which were all major predators of the time—indicate Neanderthals hunted their competitors to some extent.
  Neanderthals and cave hyaenas may have exemplified niche differentiation, and actively avoided competing with each other. Though they both mainly targeted the same groups of creatures—deer, horses, and cattle—Neanderthals mainly hunted the former and cave hyaenas the latter two. Further, animal remains from Neanderthal caves indicate they preferred to hunt prime individuals, whereas cave hyaenas hunted weaker or younger prey, and cave hyaena caves have a higher abundance of carnivore remains. Nonetheless, there is evidence that cave hyaenas stole food and leftovers from Neanderthal campsites and scavenged on dead Neanderthal bodies.
caption: Cave hyaena skeleton
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