Many of us learned in high school that our human ancestors first evolved in Africa before slowly spreading out across the planet. New research published in Nature in May aimed to shed new light on human origins in Africa and beyond. The best-fitting model they found may well force changes in the story taught about human evolution. The researchers argue that their model, in which gene flow persisted despite divergent populations, better explains genetic diversity across the continent. On the other hand, some paleoarcheologists are very committed to the single origin idea, each arguing for the primacy of their fossil evidence for a single origin in either southern Africa, East Africa, or North Africa.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 01, 2023 21:52 UTC