Humanity’s Existential Journey
Our species, Homo sapiens, might not have existed today if it weren’t for the dramatic escape of our ancestors 900,000 years ago.
A genetic study published last year revealed that the entire human population experienced a catastrophe that led to the disappearance of 98.7% of the population. However, nearly 1,300 remaining individuals embarked on an unexpected new world, according to a newly published study.
900,000 years ago, our ancestors made a dramatic “escape” from a desertified Africa – (Image: ANCIENT ORIGINS)
According to Science Alert, the near-extinction event of humans occurred around 900,000 years ago, approximately 600,000 years before the emergence of Homo sapiens.
At this brutal “population bottleneck”, fewer than 1,300 individuals survived globally. They are the ancestors of our species and potentially of other human species that have since gone extinct.
While last year’s research recounted the catastrophic “apocalyptic” event through the DNA of over 3,000 modern individuals, the new study conducted by geologists from the University of Milan (Italy) and Columbia University (USA) explains how the remaining 1,300 humans continued to survive.
The researchers found evidence of a migration from Africa occurring around the same time, as detailed in a publication in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
With limited evidence consisting of some bone fragments, stone tools, and geological data, scientists discovered that these surviving humans faced a drier, colder Africa and a vast expanse of what is now West Asia, which was devoid of food.
However, this drying trend—leading to a drop in sea levels—uncovered “land bridges”, enabling them to migrate overland from Africa to the Eurasian steppes, sometimes using primitive sled-like vehicles.
Thus, the mass migration to avoid extinction in a desertifying Africa also provided humanity with an opportunity to expand its population, leading to a robust resurgence.
The means of escaping from Africa and the various tools they devised for their migration, along with the new living conditions, also significantly contributed to advancing these ancestors along the evolutionary ladder, potentially playing a crucial role in the emergence of our species.
