Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal

It is now out in Nature our article on how a huge expansion of the human niche in Africa around 70,000 years ago likely equipped later out of Africa dispersals with unique ecological flexibility

Emily Y. Hallett, Michela Leonardi, Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni, Manuel Will, Robert Beyer, Mario Krapp, Andrew W. Kandel, Andrea Manica & Eleanor M. L. Scerri
Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal
Nature

Homo sapiens evolved in Africa starting from 300,000 – 250,000 ago. Despite having attempted dispersals out of Africa several times during this period, they only succeded around 50,000 years ago.

In this article, we reconstruct human ecological dynamics in Africa between 120,000 and 15,000 years ago, using the method we developed for our study on ungulates. We found that from around 70,000 years ago humans started to occupy new environments. Because this happened for quite different habitats at the same time, it is unlikely to be due to a single technological innovation (e.g. to store and transport water).

The most likely explanation is that during this period, positive feedback started between larger geographical ranges, increased contacts between populations (which is also suggested by morphological data), easier cultural exchanges, and a higher likelihood of developing and maintaining innovations.

This increased ecological flexibility would have later helped humans successfully disperse out of Africa.

Article

Emily Y. Hallett, Michela Leonardi, Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni, Manuel Will, Robert Beyer, Mario Krapp, Andrew W. Kandel, Andrea Manica & Eleanor M. L. Scerri
Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal
Nature

Abstract

All contemporary Eurasians trace most of their ancestry to a small population that dispersed out of Africa about 50,000 years ago (ka)1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. By contrast, fossil evidence attests to earlier migrations out of Africa10,11,12,13,14,15. These lines of evidence can only be reconciled if early dispersals made little to no genetic contribution to the later, major wave. A key question therefore concerns what factors facilitated the successful later dispersal that led to long-term settlement beyond Africa. Here we show that a notable expansion in human niche breadth within Africa precedes this later dispersal. We assembled a pan-African database of chronometrically dated archaeological sites and used species distribution models (SDMs) to quantify changes in the bioclimatic niche over the past 120,000 years. We found that the human niche began to expand substantially from 70 ka and that this expansion was driven by humans increasing their use of diverse habitat types, from forests to arid deserts. Thus, humans dispersing out of Africa after 50 ka were equipped with a distinctive ecological flexibility among hominins as they encountered climatically challenging habitats, providing a key mechanism for their adaptive success.

Media coverage

New York Times: “When Humans Learned to Live Everywhere” by Carl Zimmer
The Independent: “Early humans adapted to extreme habitats. Researchers say it set the stage for global migration
New Scientist: “70,000 years ago humans underwent a major shift – that’s why we exist” by Michael Marshall
Nature News and Views: “Homo sapiens adapted to diverse habitats before successfully populating Eurasia” by William Banks
Natural History Museum: “Sharing ideas might have helped Homo sapiens adapt for life outside Africa” by James Ashworth
University of Cambridge: “Learning to thrive in diverse African habitats allowed early humans to spread across the world
IFLScience: “Why Homo Sapiens Failed To Migrate Out Of Africa Until 60,000 Years Ago
Naked Scientist: “Humanity’s road to dominance began earlier than expected

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pastclim, tidysdm and the ecology of the European Acheulean at the EAA congress in Rome

Yesterday, the 30th Annual Congress of the European Association of Archaeologists started in Rome.

I will present my work on the European Acheulean tomorrow at 8:30 in room CU013-FL2-Rasetti, within session 364: “Modeling Pleistocene Survival Dynamics: Ecology, Energetics and Evolution.”

I also have a poster about pastclim and tidysdm (our R packages to easily use palaeoclimatic reconstructions and perform palaeoecological modelling). You can read it here on ResearchGate.

Board Games night at the Museum of Zoology

For the second year in a row, I will be involved in the Cambridge Festival for an event I am in love with:

Board games night at the Museum of Zoology
6:30pm-9:30pm on Wednesday 20 March
Downing Street, Cambridge.

Age 18+. Bar open and snacks available to buy on the night.

Visit the Museum of Zoology after hours for animal-themed board games. Grab a drink, play strategy games, create canine chaos or battle to be the best at Hungry Hungry Hippos or explore new habitats every time the climate changes. Meet the team from Waterstones Cambridge and try out some of their animal-related games too!

I will present Climate Change, the board game inspired by my work in the Department of Zoology. I will lead a demo game and help people through playing.

Join us by buying a ticket here!

Update: a few pictures of the event

New Job at the Natural History Museum, London

I am delighted to share an amazing news! Today I started a new position at the Natural History Museum in London.

I will work in the Plants under Pressure group, led by Dr. Neil Brummitt. I will study the biodiversity of plants in Tropical Africa, and the results of my research will be used by the local communities to restore forests in former mining areas.

I am particularly excited about this aspect. It is the first time that my work will directly inform conservation efforts, and it is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference (little steps can go a long way). I am equally excited to join the Museum: it is an amazing institution that has the power to inspire such a large community.

The project is funded by a Knowledge Assets Grant Fund, i.e. funding given by the UK government to develop early-stage intellectual resources towards a wider adoption or commercialisation.

“Looking into the past to inform the future”: online talk for the Arthur Rank Hospice

Yesterday I was invited by the Cambridge Museum of Zoology to give an online talk for the Arthur Rank Hospice.

The title was “Looking into the past to inform the future”. We chatted about the climate changes that happened thousands of years ago; how Neanderthals, Aurochs and Yellow Warblers reacted to them; and how these different examples can be useful in the current climate changes.

It was wonderful: the audience was very interested, they asked me many questions and I had a lot of fun! I am very grateful to Sara Steele from the Cambridge Museum of Zoology for inviting me.