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Human evolution complexity revealed in astonishing new study
- A recent study on human evolution suggests that early human ancestors split into two groups 1.5 million years ago, then merged 300,000 years ago to form modern humans.
- Researchers utilized DNA from living individuals to trace human evolution and developed a new tool called cobraa to model population changes.
- Genetic evidence indicates that one group contributed 80% of modern humans’ DNA, while the other contributed 20%, potentially influencing brain function.
- Previously, it was believed that early modern humans descended from a single lineage, but genetic research now reveals a more complex origin story.
- Findings show that distinct human populations diverged over a million years before merging to give rise to modern humans.
- Around 50,000 years ago, modern humans interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans, with modern humans outside Africa carrying about 2% of DNA from these ancient humans.
- The study used genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project and a statistical method called cobraa to analyze genetic mixing between ancient human populations.
- Major contributions to modern human genetics came from a population that split from the other group 1.5 million years ago and survived through genetic bottlenecks.
- Some genes inherited from the population with a minor genetic contribution may have played key roles in human evolution, particularly in brain function.
- The research highlights the complexity of human evolution and the rich history encoded in our DNA, revealing a previously unknown level of ancestral structure shared by all modern humans.
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