Coexistence Confirmed

As recently as 50,000 years ago, at least four human species shared Earth at the same time: Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Homo floresiensis. We were not alone.

Only sapiens survived — likely because symbolic thought and language enabled larger cooperative networks and faster cultural change. Neanderthals were strong and clever but lived in small bands. Sapiens linked hundreds of people across vast distances through trade, shared myths, and group problem-solving. Being the only human species on Earth is historically unusual; for most of our story, we had company.