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Hominin fossils that reveal clues to the emergence of Homo sapiens are rare in Africa, but in combination with studies of modern human genomes, researchers are piecing together an ever more complex timeline of human history.
Genomic analyses suggest that the majority of people living outside Africa today trace most of their ancestry back to a single migration event of a small group of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago.
Some analyses of modern human genomes hint that Homo sapiens may have interbred with other hominins in Africa.
Comparing ancient DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovans with modern human genomes has revealed that modern humans interbred with these other hominin groups.
SAHELANTHROPUS, ORRORIN, ARDIPITHECUS SPP.
Members of these relatively small-brained genera probably emerged not long after the human-chimpanzee divergence, and are the first known species of apes that habitually walked ...
