Genetic information indicates that the world’s population consists of only about 1,280 individuals capable of reproducing. This small population would not have expanded for about 117,000 years.
Genetic information from 3,154 human genomes – a collection of chromosomes and genes – would have allowed the study authors to discover that about 98.7% of our ancestors died during this phase, which coincides with the dramatic changes in climate during the Middle Pleistocene, the Long Era. and severe ice age. The team used genes from 10 African populations and 40 non-African populations.
And the media “CNN” adds that that moment would have led to the emergence of a new species that would be “the common ancestor of modern humans, or Homo sapiens, and Neanderthals.”
According to the study, controlling fires and climate change, which made human life more hospitable, contributed to the rapid population increase 813,000 years ago.
“This discovery raises many questions, such as where these individuals lived, how they survived catastrophic climate change, and whether natural selection during a period of population decline accelerated the evolution of the human brain,” said Dr. Ye, lead author of the study. Hsuan Pan, a genomics scientist at East China University.
