2024-08-02 06:00:06
Modern humans (Homo sapiens) are the only surviving representatives of the human family tree. However, our evolutionary history began about 6 million years ago and has given rise to at least 18 species, collectively called hominins. What allowed A wise man to persist while other species have disappeared?
About 300,000 years ago, at least nine species of the genus Homoincluding Homo sapiens, have spread in Africain Europe and in Asia. All of them disappeared, except Homo sapiens. Neanderthals and Denisovans coexisted with Homo sapiens and even hybridized, but they finally disappeared about 40,000 years ago.
To understand why we survived, we need to look at our commonalities with other hominins. Bipedalism, for example, emerged with the group Ardipithecus et Australopithecuswhich appeared 4.4 and 2 million years ago respectively. However, these adaptations did not prevent theextinction d’Ardipithecus, Australopithecus et Paranthropus.
Unlike emerging species of the genus Homo, Paranthropus had small brains and massive teeth. After about a million of years, Paranthropus disappeared. What were the reasons for these extinctions? Potential explanations include environmental changes, competition for resources, and low population densities.
Larger brain size in gender Homo likely provided an advantage, allowing for enhanced cognition, tool making, and complex social strategies. These abilities have rendered species of the genus Homo more resilient and adaptable.
Reproductions of skulls of a Neanderthal (left), Homo sapiens (middle) and Australopithecus afarensis (right).
Credit: WHPics, Paul Campbell, and Attie Gerber via Getty Images; collage by Marilyn Perkins
Flexibility and cooperation have been crucial assets for Homo sapiens. Our flexible social strategies have helped our species persist where others have failed. In addition, random factors and natural events have also played a role in our survival.
Ultimately, Homo sapiens has survived through periods of high extinction threat. Recent genetic analysis reveals a “bottleneck” about 900,000 years ago, when the overall population dropped to about 1,300 individuals. The future survival of our species will depend on our ability to remain flexible and cooperative in the face of new challenges.
1722610858
#human #species #Homo #sapiens #present
