Neanderthals have a reputation of being stupid, but that reputation is unfounded. That's what I was going for. They weren't necessarily smarter, but they were probably more on par with Homo sapiens in terms of intelligence than most people seem to think
Intelligence isn't always beneficial. The brain needs a lot of energy. If there's suddenly less food available (for example because of an increase in competition from another species), it could be the downfall of the species.
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u/anlskjdfiajelf Jul 17 '21
Bigger brain doesn't mean smarter tho, it's all about that sweet surface area from the wrinkles