The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction

by Pat Shipman

Overview

A Times Higher Education Book of the Week

Approximately 200,000 years ago, as modern humans began to radiate out from their evolutionary birthplace in Africa, Neanderthals were already thriving in Europe—descendants of a much earlier migration of the African genus Homo. But when modern humans eventually made their way to Europe 45,000 years ago, Neanderthals suddenly vanished. Ever since the first Neanderthal bones were identified in 1856, scientists have been vexed by the question, why did modern humans survive while their closest known relatives went extinct?

“Shipman admits that scientists have yet to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if she’s right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins.”
—Toby Lester, Wall Street Journal

“Are humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat Shipman—and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our ancestors was the domestication of wolves.”
—Daniel Cressey, Nature

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674975415
Publisher:	Harvard
Publication date:	05/15/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	942,083
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Pat Shipman is the author of many books, including The Invaders, The Animal Connection, and The Ape in the Tree (with Alan Walker), which won the W. W. Howells Award from the American Anthropological Association. A New York Times notable author, Shipman is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Geographical Society of London.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 And He Is Us 1

2 Here We Come, Ready or Not 9

3 Time Is of the Essence 31

4 Who Wins in an Invasion? 45

5 How Do You Know What You Think You Know? 61

6 What's for Dinner? 70

7 What Does an Invasion Look Like? 88

8 Going, Going, Gone … 106

9 Guess Who Else Is Coming to Dinner? 120

10 Bearing Up under Competition Pressure 143

11 The Jagger Principle 156

12 Dogged 167

13 Why Dogs? 194

14 When Is a Wolf Not a Wolf? 214

15 What Happened and Why 226

Notes 235

Credits 259

Index 263

Editorial Reviews

05/04/2015
Why did Neanderthals go extinct while modern humans flourished? Was it the invasion of modern human populations or a changing climate that pushed Neanderthals into extinction? These are the main questions that Shipman (The Animal Connection) addresses. She summarizes much of what is known about diets, hunting behavior, and lifestyles of both Neanderthals and humans, while examining ancient climate change and recent advances in dating technology. She concludes that the data does not support the idea that climate change alone can account for the extinction of our cousin species. Focusing on the ecological concept of species invasion, Shipman contends that as humans expanded their range, their dietary flexibility and technological innovations permitted them to outcompete other major carnivores, including Neanderthals, cave bears, lesser scimitar cats, cave lions and cave hyenas. Shipman makes a strong case, but fails to find evidence for the title's premise, the idea that dogs played a significant role in the extinction of the Neanderthals. Indeed, as she points out, Neanderthals were likely extinct by the time the first evidence for canine domestication appears. Nonetheless, there is still ample evidence that dogs played a significant role in human evolution, and Shipman addresses this role creatively. Illus. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Shipman’s thesis is finely crafted, with loads of explanation and discussion for her various thought processes and details of the science they are based on. She also points out competing arguments, and her academic opponents are included in her acknowledgments. The discussions of how humans are invasive species and how dogs may have contributed to our success as invaders after we left Africa are alone well worth the purchase of this book.

About Archaeology - K. Kris Hirst

With her lucid synthesis of recent research, Shipman demonstrates that Homo sapiens was and is the very model of an invasive species.

Harriet Ritvo

Why did the Neanderthals disappear? In a judicious and enthralling account, Shipman makes a compelling case that, as a truly invasive species, humans were the main cause. An original twist adds an accomplice to the scenario: An unexpectedly early prototype of man’s best friend proved to be the Neanderthals’ worst enemy.

Robert D. Martin

If you want to understand your own mind, read this remarkable and important book. Summoning new evidence, Pat Shipman shows how our coevolution with wolves contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals and further transformed us through the process of domesticating dogs. You will never look at Fido the same way again!

Nina G. Jablonski

Provocative…Shipman’s story makes for a dramatic and compelling narrative.

Psychology Today - Mark Derr

[A] cautious but compelling argument.

Maclean's - Brian Bethune

According to a leading U.S. anthropologist, early dogs, bred from wolves, played a critical role in the modern human’s takeover of Europe 40,000 years ago when we vanquished the Neanderthal locals… If Shipman is right, she will have solved one of evolution’s most intriguing mysteries.

The Observer - Robin McKie

Since the discovery in the 19th century of Neanderthal remains, the cause of their extinction has arguably been the most compelling mystery in human evolution… The Invaders offers us the appealing prospect of an expert writing on her specialism and clearly having a great deal of fun doing so. Shipman builds an extremely compelling case for the role of Homo sapiens as an invasive species who arrived in Europe about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago and had an immediate impact on their new ecosystem. The Neanderthals were not the only victims… What makes Shipman’s argument really stand out and offer a fresh perspective on the extinction of Neanderthals is the role that she gives to wolves in the process that led to the dominance of Homo sapiens.

Times Higher Education - Simon Underdown

Are humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat Shipman—and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our ancestors was the domestication of wolves. Perhaps more troubling is the concept of early humans as invaders, rather than just another species finding its way.

Nature - Daniel Cressey

Few if any readers of this lucid and compelling exposition will come away believing that the early modern Europeans were not deeply implicated in the Neanderthals’ disappearance.

Times Literary Supplement - Ian Tattersall

Shipman [is] a genial and authoritative guide to a complex field… Shipman admits that scientists have yet to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if she’s right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins.

Wall Street Journal - Toby Lester

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