Gosh Wow Science.

Jay Manifold provides a post and links to the subject of the "Toba Bottleneck." The Bottleneck appears to have occurred about 70,000 years ago when the total Homo Sapient was reduced to something under 10,000 members. This event is evidenced by the singular lack of human genetic diversity extant today and geologic evidence of a titanic volcanic eruption during the relevant time frame. Now for you alternate history fans, Neanderthals were around at that time and well adapted to "nuclear winter" climate. If the sapient population had been hit be disease or a meteorite, would the Neanderthals have inherited the earth and wondered about the small brain, fragile losers in the evolutionary single elimination tournament?