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This new understanding does not completely erase other challenges Neanderthals likely faced, such as climate change or competition for resources. However, it fundamentally changes the narrative of their demise. The notion of a brutal extinction is being replaced by a story of integration and legacy. The Neanderthals, it seems, never truly went extinct. They live on in us. Their genetic contribution is a permanent part of the human story, a quiet echo from our deep past that challenges our most basic assumptions about what it means to be human.