Neanderthal 'population bottleneck' around 110,000 years ago may have contributed to their extinction - Livescience.com

A study of the inner ear bones of Neanderthals shows a significant loss of diversity in their shape around 110,000 years ago, suggesting a genetic bottleneck that contributed to Neanderthals' decline.Neanderthals may have been headed toward their demise much earlier than experts previously thought, new research suggests. In the study, published online Feb. 20 in the journal Nature Communicatio…