Tag

Population Bottleneck

All articles tagged with #population bottleneck

science7 months ago•3 min saved

Neanderthal Inner Ears Uncover Evolutionary Catastrophe

Recent research suggests that Neanderthals experienced a single major population bottleneck during their evolution, challenging previous beliefs of multiple diversity drops. Analysis of inner ear structures indicates that the significant decline in morphological diversity occurred later in their history, likely due to climatic upheavals, rather than at their origin. These findings highlight the complex, layered nature of human evolution, involving migrations, local extinctions, and interbreeding, and emphasize the importance of integrating fossil and genetic data for a comprehensive understanding.

via Earth.com|

#evolution #inner-ear #morphological-diversity

science2 years ago•4 min saved

Debunking the Myth: Human Ancestors on the Brink of Extinction

A recent study suggests that human ancestors teetered on the brink of extinction 900,000 years ago, with the population shrinking to about 1,280 individuals. However, scientists not involved in the research have expressed skepticism, citing the difficulty of estimating population changes so long ago and the lack of evidence supporting a massive population crash. They argue that the study's claim is not convincing and that the ability of modern genomic data to infer such an event is weak.

via Phys.org|

#genetic-analysis #human-ancestors #neanderthals

science2 years ago•2 min saved

Ancient Human Ancestors Teetered on the Brink of Extinction

Genomic data from 3,154 modern humans suggests that around 900,000 years ago, humanity's ancestors experienced a population bottleneck, reducing their numbers from approximately 100,000 to just 1,280 breeding individuals. This drastic decline of 98.7% lasted for 117,000 years and could have brought humanity to the brink of extinction. The findings help explain a gap in the human fossil record during the Pleistocene and shed light on the impact of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. The research also suggests that the bottleneck may have contributed to the fusion of two chromosomes, leading humans on a different evolutionary path.

via ScienceAlert|

#genomic-data #human-ancestors #human-evolution

science2 years ago•2 min saved

Close Call with Extinction: Humanity's Near-Extinction Event 900,000 Years Ago

A new study suggests that there was a severe population bottleneck in our species' ancient past, reducing an ancestral human species to less than 1,300 breeding individuals between 813,000 and 930,000 years ago. This bottleneck lasted for 117,000 years and aligns with a gap in the African and Eurasian human fossil records. The researchers used a tool called FitCoal to analyze present-day genomes and found evidence of a "severe population bottleneck" in 10 African populations, possibly due to climatic changes. The study highlights the vulnerability of early human populations and suggests that the bottleneck may have led to the emergence of the last common ancestor shared by Denisovans, Neanderthals, and modern humans.

via Gizmodo|

#ancient-dna #genetic-diversity #human-ancestors