The study by Yaworsky, Nielsen, and Nielsen investigates the climatic niche space of Neanderthals in Western Eurasia from 145,000 to 30,000 years ago. Using dated contexts from Neanderthal sites, millennial-scale paleoclimatic reconstructions, and a spatiotemporal species distribution model, the researchers estimate the fundamental and projected potential climatic niche spaces of Neanderthals. They find that despite a long timeframe, Neanderthals occupied a relatively narrow fundamental climatic niche space. The projected potential niche space suggests a larger geographic range than the material record indicates, and there was a general decline in the size of the projected potential Neanderthal niche from 145,000 years ago, which may have contributed to their extinction around 40,000 years ago. The study highlights the importance of incorporating temporal variation in species distribution models to better understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of past species.The study by Yaworsky, Nielsen, and Nielsen investigates the climatic niche space of Neanderthals in Western Eurasia from 145,000 to 30,000 years ago. Using dated contexts from Neanderthal sites, millennial-scale paleoclimatic reconstructions, and a spatiotemporal species distribution model, the researchers estimate the fundamental and projected potential climatic niche spaces of Neanderthals. They find that despite a long timeframe, Neanderthals occupied a relatively narrow fundamental climatic niche space. The projected potential niche space suggests a larger geographic range than the material record indicates, and there was a general decline in the size of the projected potential Neanderthal niche from 145,000 years ago, which may have contributed to their extinction around 40,000 years ago. The study highlights the importance of incorporating temporal variation in species distribution models to better understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of past species.