Why did our prehistoric ancestors kill all the other hominid species?

Question

Was there a war or something? Why are we the only remaining hominid species left? Why did the early Homo sapiens kill and destroy all the other hominid species?

Answer 1

Humans evolved to be smart.... very smart. Intelligence involves in animals that must out wit and compete with other individuals of the same or similar species. This is why primates are so intelligent, intelligence means being able to out-compete others for food, mates and other resources. When all these hominid species were alive the smartest one was that one that was able to get the most food AND eliminate rivals.  Fortunately for us our ancestors were the ones who came out victorious in this evolutionary arms race.

Answer 2

We don't know that early homo sapiens killed the other hominids.  They could have died out for many reasons.  For example, they may have lacked immunity to certain diseases.  Or perhaps they weren't equipped to compete with the stronger, more intelligent species.  It could also have had something to do with their physical makeup and nutrition requirements.  Scientists believe that Neanderthals required an extremely high amount of protien.  When meat was scarce, they couldn't survive on a diet of vegetation, the way homo sapiens could.

Answer 3

First, remember we're talking 6 million years. Species develop and go extinct during that length of time.

Second, we're talking about small populations spread out over great distances. It would be a physical and logistical impossibility to track down and kill each member of a species.

Third, it isn't often that more then one species is in existence. The Australopithecus did have several variations living at the same time but there's no evidence of warfare.

The Neanderthal and Early Modern Human issue remains. Again, there's evidence that both species successively inhabited the same caves. Some might ascribe this to warfare but dating suggests it was more likely climate variations with each group migrating to better locations.

Humans and Neanderthals didn't really have the same range. Humans were more adapted to the open steppes of the late ice age while Neanderthals stayed in the forests. As the forests become separated and fewer in number so did the Neanderthals

Consdier your first sentence. It assumes that we killed off other hominid species. Have you so documentation of this? Don't fall into the trap of "argumentum ad ignorantiam " and argue something is true just because it hasn't been disproved.

Answer 4

Mostly likely, over time...

We became the smartest hunters, and when we competed over territory & resources, someone had to lose, and it wasn't us!

Answer 5

I don't think we did. Volcanic eruptions and the ice age reduced the numbers of a lot of species not just hominids.

Also if there's any truth to various cryptid sightings some of them may still be alive or only died off recently?