Jakarta –
Humans almost became extinct about 1 million years ago. Back then, the human population was only about 1,300 for over 100,000 years.
Published in a journal Science On September 1, scientists examined the genomes of more than 3,150 modern humans from 10 African and 40 non-African populations. They developed a new analytical tool to deduce the group that made up the ancestry of modern humans.
Genetic data shows that between 813,000 and 930,00 years ago, the ancestors of modern humans experienced a severe “bottleneck,” namely a population loss of up to 98.7%.
“Our ancestors experienced such a severe population bottleneck over a very long time that they faced a high risk of extinction,” said Wangjie Hu, one of the study’s authors from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, in Live Sciencequoted Sunday (3/9/2023).
From this study, scientists estimated the modern human population numbered around 1,280 over about 117,000 years.
“The estimated population size of our lineage ancestors is very small, and certainly would have brought them close to extinction,” said Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London.
Reasons Human Population Almost Extinct
This drastic population decline leading to extinction coincided with a severe cooling. Scientists say the cooling resulted in the rise of glaciers, a decrease in sea surface temperatures and long droughts in Africa and Eurasia.
Scientists still don’t know how climate change will impact humans because fossils and human artefacts were relatively rare at that time. One reason is because the population is very small.
The Extinction Period Created Modern Humans
Scientists believe this period of extinction could have played a role in splitting the ancient human group into modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. This period has divided humans into separate small groups.
Furthermore, scientists believe the differences between these groups will prove significant enough to divide the survivors into distinct populations.
“Since Neanderthals and Denisovans shared this fusion with us, it must have occurred before our lineages separated from each other,” Stringer said.
Watch the Video “The Look of a Woman Doing TIP in Tasikmalaya, Earns a Profit of Rp. 4 Million”
(two/two)
2023-09-03 13:00:09
#Humans #Extinct #Million #Years #History
