But this is hardly new: according to the new study, mosquitoes first began to ‘feed’ on humans, thus transferring disease-causing microbes into their blood in exchange, in the Pleistocene epoch around 1.8 million years ago in Southeast Asia. The malaria-causing Anopheles Leucosphyrusgroup of mosquitoes encompasses around 20 species in Southeast Asia, including in Northeast India, and each species has different host preferences. “Alternatively, anthropophily may have evolved once in an ancestral species, possibly in response to the colonisation of Southeast Asia by early hominins. Conservative estimates place Homo erectus in China at least 1.6-1.7 million years ago (Mya), and possibly as long ago as 2.4 Mya. However, the timeline of hominin colonisation southwards into Southeast Asia remains contentious.”Sniffing humans outLater in the Pliocene epoch, open forests transitioned to savannah, forcing terrestrial mammals to adapt to new habitats.

Source: The Hindu February 28, 2026 01:45 UTC