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The historical alternative to the recent origin model is the multiregional origin of modern humans, initially proposed by Milford Wolpoff in the 1980s. This view proposes that the derivation of anatomically modern human populations from H. erectus at the beginning of the Pleistocene 1.8 million years BP, has taken place within a continuous ...
Johannesson was born in Filipstad, Värmland County, Sweden on 8 December 1970 and was educated at the public school in Filipstad. She graduated with a Bachelor of Theology in 1994, and a bachelor's degree in 1996 from Uppsala University. She earned her PhD in theology and obtained a doctorate there in 2002. She was ordained priest in 2010 in ...
- 2010, by Esbjörn Hagberg
- 3 March 2019, by Antje Jackelén
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Sep 9, 2009 · The single African origin notion received an enormous boost from molecular systematics when DNA comparisons ( 28, 29) began strongly supporting earlier conclusions based on proteins ( 30) that Africa had been the ultimate source of modern human populations worldwide.
- Overview
- Only Out of Africa
- 'Remarkable' Similarity
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We are solely children of Africa—with no Neandertals or island-dwelling "hobbits" in our family tree, according to a new study.
We are solely children of Africa—with no Neandertals or island-dwelling "hobbits" in our family tree, according to a new study.
Scientists who compared the skulls and DNA of human remains from around the world say their results point to modern humans (Homo sapiens) having a single origin in Africa.
The study didn't find any evidence to suggest that human species living elsewhere in the world contributed to our direct ancestors' make-up.
A team led by Andrea Manica at the University of Cambridge, England, combined analysis of global genetic variations with comparisons of more than 6,000 skulls from more than a hundred ancient human populations.
The team found that loss of genetic diversity was very closely mirrored by reduced physical variation the farther away people lived from Africa.
The new data support the single origin, or "out of Africa" theory for anatomically modern humans, which says that these early humans colonized the planet after spreading out of the continent some 50,000 years ago.
In the past, experts have also argued a "multiregional" theory, which held that Homo sapiens arose from different human populations in different areas of the world.
"The origin of anatomically modern humans has been the focus of much-heated debate," lead author Manica said.
"We have combined our genetic data with new measurements of a large sample of skulls to show definitively that modern humans originated from a single area."
Previous studies have found that genetic differences in human populations can be explained by distance from Africa.
The new study also looked at 37 measurements from male and female skulls from around the world. The chosen skulls were all less than 2,000 years old, making them better preserved and more likely to give accurate measurements than older skulls.
The researchers made sure that the DNA analysis used the same framework as the analysis for the skulls—so the two could be fully compared, Manica said.
"I would argue we had two independent shots at getting the same answer, and remarkably, the answer is exactly the same," he added.
The lowest amount of variation was found in ancient populations from South America and Australia, the two main inhabited regions most remote from Africa.
The study team, writing in the latest issue of the journal Nature, argues that this low variation in remote regions relative to Africa would be expected if Homo sapiens arose solely in Africa.
That's because populations built up genetic and physical diversity for some 150,000 years before the fossil record suggests the first pioneers started spreading elsewhere.
But it wasn't until between about 20,000 and 30,000 years ago that modern humans reached South America and Australia, the team noted.
"What we can confidently say is that there has not been a wave [of anatomically modern humans] starting from somewhere else, because then you'd find a second area with more variability," Manica said.
What Manica can't say is "that matings with the Neandertals never ever happened, but if it did happen, none of the descendants stayed around." Effectively, any mating had no contribution whatsoever to modern humans, he added.
Anthropologist Erik Trinkhaus of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, has found fossil evidence suggesting that Homo sapiens and Neandertals did interbreed. Trinkhaus is critical of the latest findings. (Related: "Neandertals, Modern Humans May Have Interbred, Skull Study Suggests" [January 16, 2007].)
Certain genetic and anatomical traits "cannot be explained as a simple and complete expansion of modern humans out of Africa," he said.
"The idea that humans get more uniform further from Africa is simply ludicrous," he added, noting that modern-day Chinese and Australian Aborigines look no more similar to each other than do Africans and Europeans.
Fred Smith, an anthropologist at Loyola University of Chicago who is unaffiliated with the research, agrees that the findings confirm there is an African origin for modern humans.
Oct 26, 2017 · Recent research suggests that humankind’s origins lay outside of Africa. This is the nature of science: a paradigm that cannot be questioned on a regular basis becomes a dogma.
- Julien Benoit
Mar 5, 2008 · The evidence points to an African origin of modern humans dating back to 200 000 years followed by later expansions of moderns out of Africa across the Old World. What is less clear is what...
Classroom. Year 7. What is the 'Out of Africa' theory? © History Skills. Today, the human race exists in almost every part of the landmass of the world. Compared to other creatures, humans are unique: we can adapt to almost every environmental condition in all parts of the world. Humans live in the hottest and coldest climates.
