A groundbreaking study published in Nature posits that modern Homo sapiens evolved from multiple genetically diverse populations across Africa, rather than a single ancestral lineage. Researchers analyzed genetic data from various contemporary African populations, including 44 newly sequenced genomes from the Nama group, revealing that the first significant divergence among early human populations likely occurred 120,000 to 135,000 years ago, following prolonged genetic intermixing. This model challenges previous theories suggesting significant contributions from archaic hominins to Homo sapiens’ evolution.
Co-led by Brenna Henn from UC Davis, the research utilized DNA samples collected from people in southern, eastern, and western Africa to create a comprehensive view of human evolution. The findings indicate that after the initial population split, continuous migration among these groups led to a weakly structured genetic framework, explaining genetic variations among modern humans more effectively than earlier models.
The study implies that morphologically distinct hominid fossils like Homo naledi may not represent branches contributing to Homo sapiens, significantly impacting how the fossil record is interpreted. Overall, this research represents a substantial advancement in our understanding of human origins in Africa.
