Why did all the earlier hominids go extinct?

Question

They were supposedly very intelligent apes (shown by their brain volume) so why did they go extinct?

Isn't it weird that Homo sapiens are the only surviving hominids?

Answer 1

Over specialization & a changing environment is the most probable culpret for Astralpithicus Robustus (Vegetarian) & Neandertal ( carnivoir).  One hypothesis suggests the Volcano Tuba (or is it Toba?) contributed heavily to the extinction of Homo Erectus, but some fossiles dated at 20,000 yrs old suggest they out lived Neandertal.  Competition with Homo Sapien, & even warfare  is suggested as a possible happening too. One Neandertal was found to have been killed by a spear that might be of the type used by Homo Sapien. He'd lived several weeks with the injury. Then the Neandertal could have been wounded in one of the many hunts of large animals... they needed frequent kills to survive on meat alone.

Added:

Several mass extinctions caused by volcanos & astroid strikes have been verified. The most known is the one that happened 65 million yrs ago, but here are others. The Super Volcano in Yellowstone National Park caused mass extinctions when it errupted 1.2 million yrs ago & again 640,000 yrs ago. The one in Sumatra (not nearly as big as Yellowstone) happened 75,000 yrs ago.  Two Astroid strikes happened in the far Northern Hemisphere relatively recently. This was about 25,000 yrs & 10,000 yrs ago respectively. They may have had more to do with the extinction of the mammoth, wooley rino, short faced bear, dire wolf  & sabertooth tiger than any other occurance.  All the above mentioned happenings caused climate changes that lasted many years.

Sapien, due to a more evolved brain,  the ability to adapt their diet to almost any animal or vegetable matter, & ability to organize hunting & gathering in their society had an advantage.

Answer 2

I think it has to do with the same reason that modern humans developed large extended social structures.  We probably started fighting each other for territory and the fights only involved an extended family unit.  Some family units banded together and they were able to establish new territories because of the increased number of warriors they could attack with.  Then bands became tribes and the social structures became larger and larger.  Since our ancestors were the most proficient at warfare amongst ourselves, all other hominids were overwhelmed as our ancestors conquered all territories.  The few that manage to hang on were eventually destroyed or hid as the technology of war advanced.

Answer 3

They could not find food around in there area, so they starved to death or ate each other.

Answer 4

99.9% of all species of plants and animals that have EVER existed on Earth are already extinct.

Did you know that? No? Well you do now.

Answer 5

There is the remote possibility that some disease wiped them out, but again living in the scattered groups they doubtlessly lived in that's very doubtful too.

Answer 6

Old DB makes a very important point. It appears that…extinction…may be the future for all species.

As to why one version of a life form survives and another, probably earlier version, does not probably has to do with the successful version adapting better or more quickly. We used to compare brain size, more correctly cranial capacity of the skull, to judge intellectual capacity but scientists found this method lacking. Our most recent predecessor, Homo Sapiens Neanderthalinsis had a larger brain than modern humans. Was he smarter? No. It appears that he was unable to successfully compete with the new arrival (us) and was, unintentionally extincted (the dictionary does not like my word here), by us. Why? Most likely the answer lies in the neocortex portion of our brain. It seems that us modern humans process information differently and with an additional brain segment than out unfortunate, but worthy predecessor did not have, at least a well developed one.

You may happily ignore the ranting of the fundamentalist regarding evolution since not one of them has any idea whatever from which they speak. Fundies hate science and will believe whatever dogma appeals to them. There is absolutely no reason that a thinking person should indulge in such delusion.

Answer 7

One major contributing factor, is that appx.75,000 years ago, the eruption of the volcano in Sumatra (The largest known in history), put the earth in "nuclear winter" for several years (This is supported by a geologic black line found in the rock strata worldwide, corresponding to this period)...

Homo Sapiens (us) almost became extinct as well. It's estimated that only between 2,000-10,000 Homo Sapiens survived this event, worldwide! So, besides Neanderthal, who were also cave dwellers (and likely could interbreed with Homo Sapiens, since at least 5 Hybrid skeletons have been found), any other remaining Homonids probably disappeared, certainly by the time of this event!