HUMANS are natural invaders, the mammalian equivalent of Burmese pythons, cane toads and Asian carp. Our species came from Africa and invaded Europe about 50,000 years ago. Perhaps surprisingly, this invasiveness may explain why we have outlasted our last close relatives, Neanderthals, by tens of thousands of years. I believe that the key to our success as invaders lies in our partnership with a weapon with a wagging tail: the domestic dog.
When early modern humans first entered Europe, Neanderthals had been living there for roughly 250,000 years. They knew the terrain and ecosystem intimately. They shared many of our physical and behavioural traits, such as large brains, specialised abilities for making tools and fire, and methods for hunting the same large game. Genetically, Neanderthals were so much like us that we interbred, albeit rarely. Yet the evidence is very clear that we thrived during the period of overlap,while ...
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