Human adaptation to diverse biomes over the past 3 million years.

Hominin species thrived in biodiversity

29 September 2023

The ancestors of modern humans thrived in high-diversity ecosystems, making them resilient to fluctuations in climate.

Species belonging to the genus Homo, including Homo sapiens, have experienced large changes in climate over the past three million years. But little is known about how they adapted to such climate changes, which included ice ages.

Now, a team led by researchers from the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea has linked the location and age of more than 3,200 fossil and archaeological sites of six hominin species with simulations of their vegetation and ecosystems.

The results indicate that later species, especially Homo sapiens — the only surviving hominin species today — tended to inhabit a wider range of biomes over time. This suggests that Homo species were well suited to adapt to diverse habitats.

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References

1. Science 380 604–608 (2023). doi: 10.1126/science.abq1288