'Out of Africa' theory of human evolution under fire
The fragmented remains of ancient permanent teeth, unearthed in China and parts of south-east Asia, reveal that the popular "out of Africa" hypothesis – which suggests that our modern human ancestors, known as hominins, migrated from Africa about 60,000 years ago – needs revising.
Elaborate dating tests and investigations of the teeth, including one right upper second molar and one left lower second molar, reveal that our ancestors departed their African homelands as much as 120,000 and perhaps even 130,000 years ago. The teeth, discovered in a cave, called Lunadong, in China's autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang, may be as old as 126,000 years. At least one tooth is almost certain to have belonged to a member of modern Homo sapiens, the species of bipedal primates to which modern humans belong. (Among other things, Homo sapiens have a brain capacity averaging 1400 cubic centimetres and rely on the use of language and relatively complex tools.)
"The Lunadong modern Homo sapien's teeth contribute to growing evidence that modern and/or transitional humans were likely in eastern Asia … during a period that some researchers have suggested no hominins were present in the region," the research team, led by anthropologist Christopher Bae of the University of Hawaii, writes in the respected journal Quaternary International. "The primary point of our paper is that the human evolutionary record, particularly when accounting for increasing finds in eastern Asia, is a lot more complicated than generally believed," Associate Professor Bae says. "There were probably multiple dispersals of modern humans out of Africa and into Eurasia, with some degree of interbreeding occurring."
The finding also gives a clearer idea of the route our ancient forebears took after leaving Africa, he points out. "Most research currently suggests that modern humans took a southern route once they left Africa and travelled more or less along the Arabian Peninsula before arriving in south-east Asia," Associate Professor Bae says. There may have been a second later dispersal into north-west Asia, where those groups eventually moved into Europe and along the northern Asian route eventually arriving in Siberia and then on to the Americas."
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/e
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An abstract of the journal article in Quaternary International reporting the findings is here:
We present two previously unreported hominin permanent teeth [one right upper second molar (M2), one left lower second molar (m2)] from Lunadong (“dong” = “cave”), Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The teeth are important because: 1) they were found in situ; 2) at least one (M2) can be confidently assigned to modern Homo sapiens, while the other (m2) is likely modern H. sapiens; and 3) the teeth can be securely dated between 126.9 ± 1.5 ka and 70.2 ± 1.4 ka, based on multiple MC-ICP-MS uranium-series dates of associated flowstones in clear stratigraphic context. The Lunadong modern H. sapiens teeth contribute to growing evidence (e.g., Callao Cave, Huanglongdong, Zhirendong) that modern and/or transitional humans were likely in eastern Asia between the crucial 120–50 ka time span, a period that some researchers have suggested no hominins were present in the region.
Full journal article is available for $$$.
As is typically the case, the news article is trying to suck in readers by suggesting that "Out of Africa Theory is
UNDER FIRE ". Fact is, some new evidence has been discovered and the prevailing understanding of hominin migration may need to be modified...but that would be a 
boring title .
Fellow experts have reacted with interest to the latest research. "The early colonization of Australia, now documented at between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago, makes more sense if the movement of humans out of Africa was substantially earlier," says Peter Hiscock, the Tom Austen Brown Chair of Australian Archaeology at the University of Sydney.
The latest find, he explains, is part of a broader revision of the chronology of the "out of Africa" dispersion. "Anatomically modern humans found in caves in Israel, and dated to more than 100,000 years ago, have long suggested either multiple migrations out of Africa or else a need to revise the chronology of the dispersion," Professor Hiscock says.
It's cool when new discoveries are made that stimulate rethinking of our understanding.
Last edited Thu Aug 28, 2014, 09:51 AM - Edit history (1)
is exhausting. 