Neanderthals had a propensity for earache, nudging them to their doom

THE LAST Neanderthals vanished from Earth about 40,000 years ago. Exactly what drove them to extinction, however, remains a mystery, with their disappearance variously attributed to anything from climate change to inferior cognitive abilities or even cannibalism.Anthony Pagano, a medical researcher at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, has a new explanation. He thinks Neanderthals might have been unusually prone to severe ear infections, which left them struggling to compete against their cousins. In modern humans, ear infections can happen at any age but it is mainly young children who get them; five out of six will have at least one such infection before their third birthday. In 2017 Dr Pagano suggested this could be because of the orientation of the Eustachian tube, which is located just inside the eardrum, and connects the middle ear to the back of the throat. The throat end of this tube opens when a person swallows, allowing air to be sucked in or pushed out of the middle ear so that its internal air pressure matches the outside world. This is why swallowing during take-off or landing on a plane can relieve painful pressure in the ears.