Researcher has revealed that dogs bred from wolves helped modern humans vanquish local Neanderthals 40,000 years ago from Europe.
According to Professor Pat Shipman of Pennsylvania State University, Dogs were used by humans to gain a competitive edge in hunting that led to the extinction of Neanderthals on the continent 40,000 years ago, the Independent reported.
Her theory challenges the conventional academic wisdom that wolves were only domesticated a mere 10,000 years ago, coinciding with the rise of agriculture.
The professor believes that wolves were bred by humans as early as 70,000 years ago, when humans first came to Europe from Africa, leading to the domestic dogs known today.
In Asia humans and Neanderthals could have lived side by side for up to 20,000 years, as anatomically modern humans colonized the continent long before reaching Europe.
The last Neanderthals in Europe are thought to have died out in modern-day Belgium, where they lived in caves as their numbers dwindled.
Most scientists believe that Neanderthals quickly died out after the arrival of Homo sapiens to Europe, owing to competition for resources and possibly violent conflict.
