May 13, 2024
Human ancestors may have almost died out after ancient population crash
Posted by Eamon Everall in categories: biotech/medical, existential risks
Almost 99% of all human ancestors may have been wiped out around 930,000 years ago, a new paper has claimed.
The new research, published in the journal Science, used DNA from living people to suggest that humans went through a bottleneck, an event where populations shrink drastically. The paper estimates that as few as 1,300 humans were left for a period of around 120,000 years.
While the exact causes aren’t certain, the near-extinction has been blamed on Africa’s climate getting much colder and drier.