Climate change in Europe between 90 and 50 kyr BP and Neanderthal territorial habitability

Evolution of niche suitability: Comparison of the similarity of periods Examining the results of pairwise comparisons of Maxent probability maps for successive peri- ods via SSIM allows us to understand the differences in geographical distribution that have been highlighted. P1 vs P2. The SSIM figure (Fig 14) shows areas where the dissimilarity between the two periods (90 kyr- 83 kyr and 83 kyr -69 kyr) are most important (using a limit of 0.2): these are several small areas scattered throughout the territory. In particular in the Iberian region, in France, and in the Danube plain. P2 vs P3. Dissimilarities between the two periods (83 kyr -69 kyr and 69 kyr -65 kyr) (Fig 15) are particularly important (using a limit of 0.2) in the Scandinavian region and scattered across the rest of continental Europe. P3 vs P4. Dissimilarities between the two periods (69 kyr -65 kyr and 65 kyr -51 kyr) (Fig 16) are very limited, only seen in 4 pixels in continental Europe. P4 vs P5. Dissimilarities between the two periods (65 kyr -51 kyr and 51 kyr -50 kyr) (Fig 17) are very small and concern the British region and isolated points in the rest of the territory. Discussion One of the main flaws in prehistoric work is the sampling bias of sites (e.g. where Neanderthals may have been present). Indeed, our compiled georeferenced occurrence locations are taken Fig 12. Estimated probability (Maxent’s cloglog outputs) of suitable conditions greater than 0.8 (orange to red), for period P4 (64 kyr– 51 kyr). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308690.g012

Fig 13. Estimated probability (Maxent’s cloglog outputs) of suitable conditions greater than 0.8 (orange to red), for period P5 (51 kyr– 50 kyr). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308690.g013 PLOS ONE Neanderthal habitability PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0308690 February 26, 2025 10 / 17