Cro-Magnon man overtook Neanderthals around 40,000 to 50,000 years ago. They were better skilled hunters. Their tools became more sophisticated. The primary tool that defines the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period is the knife. Because of their success in hunting, their population grew and they wiped out much of the larger game. They started by hunting mastodons, but ended by shooting rabbits.^[Wright, Ronald. A Short History of Progress. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2005.] The collapse of the Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer can be seen in the decline of cave paintings, sculptures and carvings. The knives get shorter and shorter.