The Invaders

The subtitle (How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction) seems a bit deceptive to me. This book provides much more than a story of humans and dogs driving Neanderthals to extinction. It covers a wide range of evidence and conjecture about that period about 45,000 years ago when the Neanderthal were replaced by anatomically modern humans in Europe and the Middle East. The discussion of anthropological, morphological, chemical/radiological, and genetic evidence is compelling.It is in the final chapters that Shipman discusses the partnership between humans and dogs, and their probable impact on other apex predators such as the Neanderthal. A fascinating story it is. I learned a lot about the human-dog partnership – why it is so strong, why it works so well, and what a truly strange thing it is.[b:The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction 23502984 The Invaders How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction Pat Shipman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1445096386s/23502984.jpg 43107657] is not a perfect book. I very much doubt that it will please everyone. How could it be when addressing a somewhat controversial topic? Also, I question some of the terminology. For example, I was mildly irritated by the misuse of the word “fossil” in a few cases when discussing non-fossilized remains. But, that is a minor quibble. All in all, it is a very interesting book with I think some sound conclusions.