

The Invaders
How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction
Author: Pat Shipman
Narrator: Donna Postel
Unabridged: 7 hr 20 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 05/19/2015
Categories: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Life Sciences
Synopsis
The Invaders musters compelling evidence to show that the major factor in the Neanderthals' demise was direct competition with newly arriving humans. Drawing on insights from the field of invasion biology, Pat Shipman traces the devastating impact of a growing human population: reduction of Neanderthals' geographic range, isolation into small groups, and loss of genetic diversity.
But modern humans were not the only invaders who competed with Neanderthals for big game. Shipman reveals fascinating confirmation of humans' partnership with the first domesticated wolf-dogs soon after Neanderthals first began to disappear. This alliance between two predator species, she hypothesizes, made possible an unprecedented degree of success in hunting large Ice Age mammals—a distinct and ultimately decisive advantage for humans over Neanderthals at a time when climate change made both groups vulnerable.