One species, many roots?

Article Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Whole-genome sequencing reveals a complex African population demographic history and signatures of local adaptation

Shaohua Fan et al.

Summary: By conducting whole-genome sequencing of indigenous African populations, we identified numerous unreported variants and observed evidence of ancient population structure and introgression events from highly diverged ''ghost'' populations. We also found signatures of local adaptation for traits related to skin color, immune response, height, and metabolic processes.

CELL (2023)

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Article Anthropology

The revolution that still isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens

Eleanor M. L. Scerri et al.

Summary: This article investigates the origins, patterns, and causes of behavioral complexity in modern humans, challenging popular scenarios and offering a geographically structured review. It finds that the concept of a discrete 'modernity package' is obsolete and that the record of material culture in Africa shows asynchronous presence and duration of innovations. The article argues that the variable expression of complex behaviors is influenced by multiple causal factors, rather than a strict gradualistic nature, and notes a weakening link between modern human biology and behavior from around 300 ka ago.

JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION (2023)

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Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

A weakly structured stem for human origins in Africa

Aaron P. Ragsdale et al.

Summary: Despite consensus that human originated in Africa, uncertainty remains regarding specific models of divergence and migration in the continent. This is due to limited fossil and genomic data, as well as variable estimates of divergence times. To address this, we use linkage disequilibrium and diversity-based statistics to infer detailed demographic models for populations across Africa. Our findings suggest a reticulated African population history, with the earliest population divergence occurring 120,000 to 135,000 years ago and gene flow between weakly differentiated ancestral Homo populations. This challenges previous attributions of patterns of polymorphism to archaic hominins in Africa.

NATURE (2023)

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Review Multidisciplinary Sciences

Origins of modern human ancestry

Anders Bergstrom et al.

Summary: New findings in palaeoanthropological and genomic records have reshaped our understanding of the origins of modern human ancestry. The article outlines three key phases in the evolution of modern human ancestry, from the global expansion of modern humans to their interactions with Neanderthals and Denisovans, the African origin of modern human diversity, and the complex separation of modern human ancestors from archaic human groups. It argues that there is no single point in time when modern human ancestry was limited to a specific birthplace, and that the appearances of defining traits of Homo sapiens align with a variety of evolutionary histories.

NATURE (2021)

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Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Paleo-ENSO influence on African environments and early modern humans

Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr et al.

Summary: The study reveals a close correlation between moisture availability in Africa and ENSO variability, likely driven by changes in Earth's eccentricity. Low-latitude insolation is identified as a key driver of pan-African climate change, impacting vegetation and mammal evolution.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2021)

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Article Genetics & Heredity