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

See more on Altmetrics

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

“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.

Climate Change – the board game at INQUA 2023

Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting Climate Change – the Board Game at the Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA 2023) in Rome. It was during session 10, Visualizing Science – The art of communicating science.

At this link, you can find the abstract and more information about the session. And if you are interested in reading the poster, you can find it here on ResearchGate.

Climate Change activity with schoolchildren at the Zoology Museum

Yesterday I had another opportunity to do outreach about climate change with two groups of Year 8 students (12-13 years old), at the Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge.

As usual, the session started with a short talk explaining the relationship between climate change, evolution and extinction. After that, the students had explored these tipics by playing “Climate change” my board game.

Learning how climate changes impact animal species gives a better understanding of the actual threats linked to the current climate emergency. Understanding such processes through a game makes the students’ experience more engaging and less stressful than it would be when following a lecture or a talk.