Cavemen primarily died from infections (especially in childhood), starvation, dehydration, injuries, and violence, with high infant mortality rates skewing the average lifespan down, while adults who survived childhood often lived much longer. Major killers included diarrheal diseases, zoonotic infections, and wounds from predators or conflict, along with accidents, childbirth complications, and harsh elements, making disease and injury the biggest threats.
The first encounters began about 8000 generations ago in the Paleolithic era when approximately 75% of deaths were caused by infection, including diarrheal diseases that resulted in dehydration and starvation. Life expectancy was approximately 33 years of age.
Cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, and influenza are some of the most brutal killers in human history. And outbreaks of these diseases across international borders, are properly defined as pandemic, especially smallpox, which throughout history, has killed between 300-500 million people in its 12,000 year existence.
Contagious infections and septic wounds are likely to have been the major causes of death in ancient populations living under unsanitary conditions (2, 21, 22).
Some hominin fossils have shown signs of predation that are consistent with African savannas being the domain of the largest mammalian carnivores of any habitat on Earth. Predecessors of felids such as lions, leopards, pumas, cheetahs and canids like wolves and hyenas roamed the land searching for their next meal.
Evidence for such cannibalism exists in dozens of prehistoric societies, and in fact, goes beyond our species to Neanderthals, and even further to more distant species such as Homo antecessor a million years ago. It seems fairly clear that a lot of human groups have at some point engaged in cannibalism.
Measurement of our braincase and pelvic shape can reliably separate a modern human from a Neanderthal – their fossils exhibit a longer, lower skull and a wider pelvis. Even the three tiny bones of our middle ear, vital in hearing, can be readily distinguished from those of Neanderthals with careful measurement.
The plague that killed up to 75% of the population in some areas was the Black Death, a devastating pandemic (1346–1353) caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which wiped out huge portions of Europe, Asia, and Africa, with some cities losing as many as three-quarters of their inhabitants in mere days.
The number one killer in the world is cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, responsible for about one-third of all global deaths, claiming nearly 18-20 million lives annually, and remains the leading cause across all regions, according to WHO and World Heart Federation. While COVID-19 caused significant deaths in recent years, CVD has consistently held the top spot for decades, with increases seen globally, especially in younger populations.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in the United States, accounting for 25 percent of all male deaths. Various factors, including smoking, high cholesterol levels and obesity, can cause heart disease.
The Shaanxi Earthquake killed 830,000 people according to Chinese records, which would make February 2, 1556 (or January 23 depending on your calendar of choice) the deadliest day ever in terms of total human deaths.
Both septicemic plague (blood infection) and pneumonic plague (lung infection) had a nearly 100% death rate if left untreated, with pneumonic plague being the most contagious form, spreading through airborne droplets and being rapidly fatal. Untreated bubonic plague (swollen lymph nodes) could also develop into these deadly forms, leading to high mortality.
A century ago, there were less than two years between men's and women's life expectancies in the United States. Today, that gender gap has almost tripled, with men dying 5.3 years earlier than women in 2023.
Hypotheses on the causes of the extinction include violence, transmission of diseases from modern humans to which Neanderthals had no immunity, competitive replacement, extinction by interbreeding with early modern human populations, natural catastrophes, climate change and inbreeding depression.
No, no one has ever lived to be 200 years old with verified records; the oldest verified person was Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days, but some scientists believe the first person to reach 200 may have already been born, given advancements in longevity research. Claims of much older ages, like Li Ching-yun (claimed 250+ years) or Peng Zu (claimed 800+ years), lack modern scientific verification.
A "silent killer" animal can refer to predators with stealthy hunting methods, like the owl, leopard, or python, but also to venomous or disease-carrying creatures such as the venomous, yet cute, slow loris, the camouflaged stonefish, the fast-acting common krait snake, or even the microscopic mosquito, which transmits deadly diseases like malaria and West Nile virus, making it the world's deadliest "silent killer" overall.
The saltwater and Nile crocodiles are responsible for more attacks and more deaths than any other wild predator that attacks humans for food. Each year, hundreds of deadly attacks are attributed to the Nile crocodile within sub-Saharan Africa.
1. Mosquito (780,000 deaths per year) The tiny mosquito is the most dangerous animal in the world as well as the most dangerous insect, claiming 780,000 lives annually.
SARS-CoV-2 has officially claimed 5 million lives, but credible estimates place the pandemic's true death toll closer to 17 million. Either count secures COVID-19's position on our list of history's deadliest plagues.
The Heaviest Hitters
Most theories suggest that it was the imposition of quarantine measures that ensured the end of the Black Death. People would remain in their homes and only leave when it was necessary, to avoid becoming infected, while wealthier individuals would leave densely populated areas to live in greater isolation.
The answer was yes! A very small bit of Neanderthal DNA exists in many people alive today. This discovery changed the way scientists think about the Neanderthals. And, since then, we have found DNA from several ancient skeletons, and this new evidence also proves that humans and Neanderthals had hybrid children.
Evolutionary biologists have found evidence that hybridization between humans and Pan troglodytes resulted in some varieties of archaic humans. Chimpanzees and bonobos are separate species, but hybridization has been documented.
We find that, consistent with the recent finding of Meyer et al. (2012), Neanderthals contributed more DNA to modern East Asians than to modern Europeans. Furthermore we find that the Maasai of East Africa have a small but significant fraction of Neanderthal DNA.