Pleistocene Epoch Evolution

The Pleistocene epoch, which occurred around 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago, was a time of severe global warming and global cooling. This period of time is known to have marked the most recent documented Ice Age. Of the five cited Ice Ages that have occurred since the beginning of time, The Pleistocene Epoch was the first to accrue humans. Moreover, the animals inhabiting the Earth throughout this era were predominately larger than animals living today. Given the facts, many have claimed that the animals existing in the time of the Pleistocene Epoch were genetic ancestors of the animals living in our present day; however, it can be more accurately presumed that it was within the Pleistocene Epoch that the evolution

In addition, when analyzing the difference in facial structure we see that Neanderthals have “a pronounced projection of the midface and the cheekbones are obliquely oriented and ‘inflated’” (Harvati 2010). As for the cranial features, Neanderthals temporal bone displays many different markings than that of a modern human. Another noticeable difference in the cranial region is that the average brain size of Neanderthals is larger than that of modern humans (Holloway, 1985). In fact, it has been stated that this unique adaptation Neanderthals bear is also a result from the cold climates. Furthermore, Neanderthals teeth in the back of their mouth tend to overlap with those teeth seen in modern humans. Overall, most features discussed above generally always lead back to the conclusion of Neanderthals evolving in order to survive in the harsh

While many believe that the last appearance of the Neanderthals exemplifies their development into modern Europeans or their “assimilation into the modern human gene pool,” others have developed contradicting viewpoints (Harvati, 2010). To begin, it has been proposed that the direct effect of Neanderthals disappearance was induced by the lack of environment surrounding them at the time (Stewart, 2005). Through further testing this theory has been rejected and is no longer supportable in the field of Anthropology. In addition, some scientists in the field of Paleoanthropology have given consideration to the idea that “worsening climate” and the conditions of the environment were major factors in the extinction of Neanderthals. However, the proposed dates in which scientists believed the Neanderthals to have gone extinct do not coincide with a significant cooling episode; thus, the validity of the theory of climate deterioration causing the extinction of the Neanderthal is diminished (Finlayson, 2004). Likewise, the fact that the Neanderthals sustained survival during the cold phases that occurred during their time can stand to contradict the idea that their demise was caused solely by