Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Homo Sapiens Origins

Did our species evolve from an isolated population of ancient humans in one part of Africa in a relatively quick branching event? Or, was our evolution a continent wide process with many groups of ancient people from different parts of Africa exchanging genes over long periods of time? The time period of interest based on genetics and fossils is from roughly 700,000 years ago to about 50,000 years ago.

There is a wealth of recent reading material on the topic of Homo sapiens origins. I am sharing two articles which I found very useful in understanding how paleo-anthropologists are using fossil and genetic data to come to a better understanding of our origins.

1) The Origin and Evolution of Homo sapiens -  Chris Stringer

2) Pan‐Africanism vs. single‐origin of Homo sapiens -  Putting the debate in the light of evolutionary biology- Andra Meneganzin, Telmo Pievani, Giorgio Manzi. 

I liked the second one better. I felt it outlined the differing views clearly, pointing out the problems genetics and evolutionary theory present for some of the more extreme scenarios out there. It assesses the African Middle Pleistocene fossil record (0.7 -0.1 million years ago) very well, while attempting to reconcile it with expected evolutionary patterns. 

There are articles that concentrate on the new genetic data of human populations. But being a geologist, my worldview and indeed my understanding of the subject matter biases me towards fossils. 

So have at it. Both are open access.

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