Increased brain size allowed Homo sapiens to become more successful hunters than the early humans that came before.
The term homo sapiens refers to the only extant human species. The name is Latin for "wise man" and was introduced in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus.
Brain size in both Neanderthals and Anaromically Modern Human (homo sapiens) is significantly larger on average than brain size in H. erectus. Neanderthal and AMH brain sizes are in the same range.