Scientists reveal: Humanity was on the brink of extinction at one point
A new study has revealed that ancient humanity was on the brink of extinction around 900,000 years ago when the world’s population dwindled to about 1,280 individuals, as reported by the American website “CNN.”
The analysis, published on August 31st in the journal “Science,” is based on a model developed by a group of scientists from China, Italy, and the United States.
The model used genetic information from 3,154 current human genomes.
According to the study, about 98.7 percent of human ancestors were lost about 900,000 years ago. Researchers believe that this “population collapse” may be linked to a “gap in the fossil record” that may have led to the emergence of a new type of hominin.
In this regard, the lead researcher, Yi Huan Ban, an evolutionary and functional genomics scientist at East China Normal University (ECNU), stated, “The new discovery raises many questions, such as where these individuals lived, how they adapted to climate changes, and whether natural selection accelerated the evolution of the human brain.”
Furthermore, scientists suggest that fire control, extreme climate conditions, and a more hospitable climate for human life may have all contributed to the subsequent rapid population increase around 813,000 years ago.
The researchers used a massive computer model of information from the modern human genome to estimate population sizes at specific points in the past. The team relied on genetic sequences from ten African groups and 40 non-African groups.
