When the climate cooled, the population of Neanderthals shrank. Most that lived between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago were descended from the same lineage and had very similar DNA April 24, 2026 10:04 a.m. Neanderthals survived from roughly 400,000 to 40,000 years ago, when they mysteriously disappeared. Mike Kemp / In Pictures / Getty Images Neanderthals lived successfully across Eurasia for hundreds of thousands of years, starting around 400,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence suggests they were not just surviving, but thriving: They hunted elephants , extracted high-calorie grease from animal bones, transformed turtle shells into tools, made art , set fires and created a sticky, multipurpose adhesive from birch bark, among other achievements. But roughly 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals mysteriously vanished. The circumstances surrounding the species’ extinction have long been a source of fascination for researchers. Now, new research hints at what might have happened.…