As well as large game, they also hunted smaller animals like hares and rabbits.
In contrast, there is little evidence that Neanderthals hunted similar small ground mammals according to analyses of archaeological sites in Iberia where the Neanderthals clung on the longest.Their tools were better suited for hunting bigger animals, so even if they tried, they may not have been successful at catching small animals. Though there is evidence they ate birds, they may have lured them in with the remains of other dead animal carcasses, rather than actively hunting them in the sky.
All in all, "modern humans seemed to have a greater number of things they could do when put under stress," says Stewart. This ability to innovate and adapt may explain why we replaced Neanderthals so quickly.
"Faster innovation leads to better efficiency and exploitation in the environment and therefore a higher reproductive success," says Hublin.
He believes that there is something intrinsic to modern humans that helped us adapt so quickly. There is some evidence for that