Eyes, Bunnies, Neanderthal Extinction

Every week scientists seem to change their mind regarding the cause of the extinction of neanderthals. This week it was their big dreamy eyes, the other day it was rabbits, a while back it was their rubbish childhoods.

In truth, I'm sure most researchers aren't radically changing their minds so much so often, but adding nuances to complex theories. The problem is almost certainly down to hyperbolic science journalism. 

Silent killer.

 From what I understand, there are still a few key competing theories regarding neanderthal extinction: interbreeding, disease, genocide or some general competitive advantage possessed by humans. It's this last factor that causes trouble. As soon as we begin to speculate about the details of a plausible but vague competitive advantage, we open the doors to any hypothesis that sounds feasible. Superior communication? Diverse tools? More effective hunting strategies? Surely any and all of these are possible, but how would we come to any sort of sensible and testable comparison?

Giant eyes, killer bunnies; these guys had a hard time.

This a problem that frequents evolutionary psychology. In evolutionary psychology we look for evolutionary reasons for often highly specific and complex psychological traits and behaviour. But in doing so we run the danger of hysterical hypothesising- rapidly drawing conclusions that are frequently unverifiable. That's not to say there isn't an evolutionary explanation for those traits, but rather that our conclusions need to be moderate and uncertain. Likewise, I don't doubt the possibility of human competitive advantages over neanderthals- as a lay person who am I to dispute this? I also don't doubt the possibility and utility of comparing the plausibility of different adaptations as an explanation for human survival to some extent. However, I find the range of such assured headlines suspicious. I'm sure most scientists in the field take a nuanced approach that avoids such certainty.