maybe winter had something to do with it? Look at modern Europeans. Then look at those who stayed around the equator and coast lines. I think you will see that there were thousands of years of adaptations, We are bigger. We are whiter. And we are smarter. And lastly we are more communal.
Europe was quite warm before it became a sheet of ice. There are hippo and hyena skeletons unearthed in England. But winters and sparse sunlight made us adapt more to survive. We first left Africa 60,000 years ago. There were still ice sheets over Europe and neanderthals 20,000 years ago. We are not hairy. Cold weather is tough for us.
Herds of elephant skeletons in the Colorado mountains prove the World much warmer/greener 60,000 years ago than today, but then the ice came, like it always does.
I think you have it - sudden cold shifts in southern europe created dry steppes inhospitable to humans (and wildlife) which also made humans sitting ducks for alpha predators. Warm shifts brought ability to move north ....then just when things were looking great, it got cold again.
“The cold, arid phases show up in pollen records in both northern and southern Europe as sudden decreases in the percentage of tree pollen, and an influx of plants indicating cold, dry semi-desert or dry steppe conditions”
https://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/gen/nercEUROPE.html
We first left Africa 60,000 years ago. There were still ice sheets over Europe and neanderthals 20,000 years ago. We are not hairy. Cold weather is tough for us
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There are sites all over South America, Mexico and even one in California that date back 300,000-190,000 years. Modern Humans date back 300,000 years. Humans waiting 140,000 years to leave Africa is hard to believe, and does not explain who made those sites.
Neanderthals died out in Europe 39,000 years ago, but persisted in the ME until 20,000 years ago. Neanderthals were not hairy either, as far as we know.
Neanderthal sites are below the ice sheets were it was warmer (contrary to TV portrayals). Most likely settlements were along natural harbors, river mouths - now hundreds of feet below ocean level today. There is no telling what it was actually like in those days because so much information is either missing, gone or inaccessible. Fortunately, underwater archeology is gaining credence and funds, so one day we may know much more than we do now - which is mostly speculation, assumptions and consensus thinking, a picture puzzle with most of the pieces missing.