Major Expansion in the Human Niche Preceded Out of Africa Dispersal

New Research Reveals Why Most Early Humans Who Left Africa Disappeared Without a Trace

Ecological flexibility, not tools or genes, explains why only one migration out of Africa succeeded around 50,000 years ago. Today, all non-African people are believed to have descended from a small group that migrated into Eurasia roughly 50,000 years ago. However, fossil records show that many earlier migration attempts occurred before this time, none of [...]

Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal

All contemporary Eurasians trace most of their ancestry to a small population that dispersed out of Africa about 50,000 years ago (ka)1–9. By contrast, fossil evidence attests to earlier migrations out of Africa10–15. These lines of evidence can only be reconciled if early dispersals made little to no genetic contribution to the later, major wave. A key question therefore concerns what factors facilitated the successful later dispersal that led …

The Journey of Early Humans Leaving Africa Reveals a Key Migration Point

New research uncovers the journey of early humans from Africa, revealing the Persian Plateau as a key migration point before spreading to Europe and Asia.

Scientists Unravel Why First Human Migrations Out Of Africa Failed

A groundbreaking study published in Nature has uncovered why modern humans successfully colonized the world around 50,000 years ago, while earlier migrations from Africa failed. The key lies in ecological adaptability, our ancestors’ ability to thrive in diverse environments before they ever left Africa. Fossil records show that earlier human groups ventured into Eurasia as far back as 200,000 years ago, but none left a lasting genetic legacy. O…