On the origin of modern humans in China

The Multiregional Evolution Hypothesis (MEH) and the Recent Out of Africa Hypothesis (ROAH) are two main hypotheses bearing on the origin of modern humans. In China, there are many common morphological features among Pleistocene human fossil skulls. These features and the morphological mosaic between Homo sapiens erectus and Homo sapiens sapiens of China indicate the continuity of human evolution in this region. There are a few skulls possessing one or two features that suggest gene flow from the West to China. Based on the evidence of continuity and gene flow, a new hypothesis, Continuity with Hybridization, was proposed in 1998 for characterizing human evolution in China. This hypothesis is also supported by the Paleolithic archaeological record of China. There are serious problems with the ROAH. For example, the dates of the last common ancestor of anatomically modern humans obtained, determined by different investigators using molecular clock estimates, vary considerably. Further, the important assumptions of the ROAH-a constant mutation rate and no loss of gene variants during human evolution-cannot be verified. The results of recent studies on ancient DNA could be interpreted in different ways, and could also be interpreted as supporting the MEH. Also, the Paleolithic artifacts from the Near East and China do not support the ROAH. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.