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Human evolution

One species, many roots?

Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023)Cite this article

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A new genetic study provides strong support for the view that our species evolved from exchanges between several ancestral populations in different African regions.

Independent lines of evidence suggests that humans evolved within a structured metapopulation living across much of the African continent at different points in time1,2,3. However, we do not know whether all regions and ecozones had some role in the process, whether some had a greater role than others, how many ancestral populations may have been involved and whether some ancestral contributions came from other hominin species. This is the case for several reasons. Currently available fossils represent a time–space palimpsest of a few individuals from around 10% of Africa, which makes interpretative models prone to overfitting. The time depth of human habitation in Africa’s regions and diverse ecozones remains unknown. We also lack ancient DNA from Africa that spans the timeframe of the emergence of Homo sapiens. Other issues involve the lack of comprehensive genetic sampling across current African populations — although this gap is starting to close4 — and the dominant use of problematic tree-like models as representations of human ancestry5. The degree of coexistence and possible genetic exchanges between early members of our own lineage and more-divergent hominins that may represent different species is therefore highly contested. Indeed, little can be said with any degree of certainty, except that a single ‘birthplace’ in Africa for our species seems unlikely5.

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Fig. 1: Dynamic population structure over time.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks H. Groucutt and M. Mirzón Lahr for feedback on the issues presented in this News & Views piece.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany

    Eleanor M. L. Scerri

  2. Department of Prehistory, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Eleanor M. L. Scerri

  3. Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

    Eleanor M. L. Scerri

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  1. Eleanor M. L. Scerri
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Correspondence to Eleanor M. L. Scerri.

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Scerri, E.M.L. One species, many roots?. Nat Ecol Evol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02080-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02080-2

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