Extinction

by Douglas Preston

The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. And it is terrifically dangerous. —Edward O. Wilson

Studies of Neanderthal anatomy and genetics reveal that they had language ability. Not only did Neanderthals have the hyoid bone of the neck in the right position for speech, but they also carried the FOXP2 gene, which in humans is linked to speech. What’s more, they possessed an expanded Broca’s area in the brain, the region governing complex speech, the formulation of sentences, and the vocal and breath control necessary to speak words.

Neanderthal brains, however, had a smaller cerebellum and parietal lobes, which suggests that they were less capable than we are in terms of tool use, creativity, higher-order conceptualization, and social abilities. Their occipital and temporal lobes and olfactory bulbs, however, were bigger, implying they were superior to humans in smell, eyesight, and hearing.

showing almost no innovation or evolution. They buried their dead. They took care of the crippled and infirm. They probably had religious beliefs and some concept of an afterlife, because they placed offerings in graves—especially those of children—and in one case, they appear to have scattered medicinal plants and flowers in an adult’s grave, which some think might mean the individual was a healer or shaman.

They had music. Fragments of bone flutes have been found at some Neanderthal sites, and the placement of the holes indicates Neanderthals may have used a pentatonic (five-note) scale.

We know that at least one Neanderthal woman had red hair, and it has been theorized that the rare red-hair gene entered the modern human population through interbreeding with red-haired Neanderthals.

Much of our brainpower, scientists believe, evolved to deal effectively with social interactions, which allowed us to live successfully in ever-larger groups.

cannibalism among Neanderthals was widespread, judging by the sheer number of sites found across Europe and Asia of cannibalized Neanderthal remains.

The practice was not limited to Neanderthals; many sites of Homo sapiens also show clear signs of cannibalism.

The mere existence of such a gene indicates that cannibalism among our forebears might have been widespread enough to trigger pandemics of prion disease, which would cause the spread through the human population of the protective variant 129.

The paleoanthropological world seems curiously reticent about stating outright that humans drove Neanderthals to extinction.

In my view, absolutely everything we know of human history and behavior points to a violent struggle between Neanderthals and modern humans for land and resources.

The bottom line is that archeological digs across Europe show that when modern humans arrived in a particular region, Neanderthals soon disappeared.

earth’s previous Big Five mass extinctions. With our marvelously clever yet weirdly oblivious brains, we have managed to become an agent of mass extinction as powerful as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Will scientists bring Neanderthals back to life someday? Geneticists are already on the cusp of resurrecting several extinct creatures.

Colossal’s efforts to de-extinct the woolly mammoth will almost certainly succeed, possibly in less than five years,

While Extinction is fiction, the science in it is real. It is here, and it is now.