There were undoubtedly many reasons why the Neanderthals finally went extinct in Europe 40,000 years ago. One hypothesis states that the inability of the species to adapt to hunting small animals when large mammals decreased in numbers played a big role in their ultimate demise.

This theory was explained in a landmark 2013 study that was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Evolution .

This particular study, which was carried out by a team of scientists from universities in Spain and the United Kingdom, focused on the extinction of Neanderthals on the Iberian Peninsula. The scientists concluded that Neanderthals were doomed in Iberia because they were unable to successfully hunt rabbits, the prey species that was most widely available in that region 40,000 years in the past. This was in contrast to modern humans, who migrated to the Iberian Peninsula 42,000 to 45,000 years ago and quickly adapted to what the land could provide.

The rabbits came to prehistoric Iberia or modern-day Spain, and this led to Neanderthal extinction because they were not so good a trapping or catching smaller prey! ( Subbotina Anna / Adobe Stock)