Modern humans evolved somewhere in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago. But how did our species go on to populate the rest of the globe?
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In a series of unprecedented genetic analyses published on [Sept. 21,]…three separate teams of researchers conclude that all non-Africans today trace their ancestry to a single population emerging from Africa between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago.
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Early studies of bits of DNA also supported this scenario. All non-Africans are closely related to one another, the studies found, and they all branch from a genetic tree rooted in Africa.
Yet there are also clues that at least some modern humans lived outside of Africa well before 50,000 years ago, perhaps part of an earlier wave of migration.
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Why leave Africa at all? Scientists have found some clues as to that mystery, too.
[A] computer model of Earth’s recent climatic and ecological history…shows that changing rainfall patterns periodically opened up corridors from Africa into Eurasia that humans may have followed in search of food.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: A Single Migration From Africa Populated the World, Studies Find
