Climate shifts shaped how ancient human species moved and evolved
In short: Researchers using advanced climate simulations and fossil records found that changes in temperature and rainfall significantly influenced where five hominin species lived over the last two million years. The study observed that early human ancestors preferred stable environments, but later species became global wanderers capable of adapting to much wider climatic ranges.
By combining a complex climate model with archaeological data, the team reconstructed habitat suitability across the Pleistocene. They found that after the mid-Pleistocene transition, humans began inhabiting much more diverse climates. The researchers also suggest that simultaneous climate disruptions in Africa and Eurasia may have driven the evolutionary split of populations into different lineages.
Why it matters: Ancient human evolution was deeply intertwined with the Earth's changing climate patterns.
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Sources
- Source: Research: Timmermann et al. (2022). Climate effects on archaic human habitats and species successions. Nature. · cc-by
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