Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it 
matter?

Scerri, Eleanor M.L.; Thomas, Mark G.; Manica, Andrea; Gunz, Philipp; Stock, Jay T.; Stringer, Chris; Grove, Matt; Groucutt, Huw S.; Timmermann, Axel; Rightmire, G. Philip; d’Errico, Francesco; Tryon, Christian A.; Drake, Nick A.; Brooks, Alison S.; Dennell, Robin W.; Durbin, Richard; Henn, Brenna M.; Lee-Thorp, Julia; deMenocal, Peter; Petraglia, Michael D.; Thompson, Jessica C.; Scally, Aylwyn; Chikhi, Lounès

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.05.005

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Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it matter?

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Gunz, Philipp
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Scerri, E. M., Thomas, M. G., Manica, A., Gunz, P., Stock, J. T., Stringer, C., et al. (2018). Did our species evolve in subdivided populations across Africa, and why does it matter? Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 33(8), 582-594. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.05.005.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0001-B470-5

Abstract

Highlights

The view that Homo sapiens evolved from a single region/population within Africa has been given primacy in studies of human evolution.

However, developments across multiple fields show that relevant data are no longer consistent with this view.

We argue instead that Homo sapiens evolved within a set of interlinked groups living across Africa, whose connectivity changed through time.

Genetic models therefore need to incorporate a more complex view of ancient migration and divergence in Africa.

We summarize this new framework emphasizing population structure, outline how this changes our understanding of human evolution, and identify new research directions.