When did modern humans leave Africa?

Stringer, Chris; Galway‐Witham, Julia

doi:10.1126/science.aas8954

Cited by 38 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Archeological evidence puts some temporal boundaries on the times when Neandertals and modern humans might have interacted. The earliest currently known modern human remains outside of Africa is dated to around 188 thousand years ago (ka) ( Hershkovitz et al 2018 ; Stringer and Galway-Witham 2018 ), and the latest Neandertals are suggested to have lived between 37 and 39 ka old ( Higham et al 2014 ; Zilhão et al 2017 ). Thus, the time window where Neandertals and modern humans might have been in the same area stretches over more than 140,000 years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Extended Admixture Pulse Model Reveals the Limitations to Human–Neandertal Introgression Dating

Iasi

Ringbauer

Peter

2021

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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Neandertal DNA makes up 2-3% of the genomes of all non-African individuals. The patterns of Neandertal ancestry in modern humans have been used to estimate that this is the result of gene flow that occurred during the expansion of modern humans into Eurasia, but the precise dates of this event remain largely unknown. Here, we introduce an extended admixture pulse model that allows joint estimation of the timing and duration of gene flow. This model leads to simple expressions for both the admixture segment distribution and the decay curve of ancestry linkage disequilibrium, and we show that these two statistics are closely related. In simulations, we find that estimates of the mean time of admixture are largely robust to details in gene flow models, but that the duration of the gene flow can only be recovered if gene flow is very recent and the exact recombination map is known. These results imply that gene flow from Neandertals into modern humans could have happened over hundreds of generations. Ancient genomes from the time around the admixture event are thus likely required to resolve the question when, where, and for how long humans and Neandertals interacted.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Extended Admixture Pulse Model Reveals the Limitations to Human–Neandertal Introgression Dating

Iasi

Ringbauer

Peter

2021

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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“…Ces fossiles ont, par la suite, essentiellement joué un rôle dans les discussions générales sur l'évolution de notre espèce, ses modalités d'expansion et ses migrations jusqu'à la période actuelle [44]. Cro-Magnon n'est-il pas le grandpère des Français dans l'imaginaire collectif ?…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Que reste-t-il des Hommes de Cro-Magnon 150 ans après leur découverte ?

Villotte¹,

Balzeau²

2018

BMSAP

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La découverte de fossiles humains à Cro-Magnon (Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil, Dordogne, France) a chamboulé les disciplines scientifiques naissantes qu’étaient alors l’anthropologie biologique et la préhistoire. Sont présentés dans cet article quelques aspects de ce bouleversement et l’importance, pour la communauté scientifique actuelle, des vestiges humains de Cro-Magnon 150 ans après leur mise au jour.

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“…Archaeological evidence puts some temporal boundaries on the times when Neandertals and modern humans might have interacted. The earliest currently known modern human remains outside of Africa are dated to around 188 thousand years ago (kya) (Hershkovitz et al, 2018; Stringer and Galway-Witham, 2018) and the latest Neandertals are suggested to have lived between 37 kya and 39 kya old (Higham et al, 2014; Zilhão et al, 2017). Thus the time window where Neandertals and modern humans might have been in the same area stretches over more than 140,000 years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An extended admixture pulse model reveals the limitations to Human-Neandertal introgression dating

Iasi

Ringbauer

Peter

2021

Preprint

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Neandertal DNA makes up 2-3 % of the genomes of all non-African individuals on average. The length of Neandertal ancestry segments in modern humans has been used to estimate that the mean time of gene flow occurred during the expansion of modern humans into Eurasia, but the precise dates of this gene flow remain largely unknown. Here, we introduce an extended admixture pulse model that allows joint estimation of the timing and duration of gene flow. This model contains two parameters, one for the mean time of gene flow, and one for the duration of gene flow whilst retaining much of the mathematical simplicity of the simple pulse model. In simulations, we find that estimates of the mean time of admixture are largely robust to details in gene flow models. In contrast, the duration of the gene flow is much more difficult to recover, except under ideal circumstances where gene flow is recent or the exact recombination rate is known. We conclude that gene flow from Neandertals into modern humans could have happened over hundreds of generations. Ancient genomes from the time around the admixture event are thus likely required to resolve the question when, where, and for how long humans and Neandertals interacted.

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When did modern humans leave Africa?

Abstract: A ∼180,000-year-old fossil from Israel provides evidence for early forays of Homo sapiens into western Asia

Cited by 38 publications

References 9 publications

An Extended Admixture Pulse Model Reveals the Limitations to Human–Neandertal Introgression Dating

An Extended Admixture Pulse Model Reveals the Limitations to Human–Neandertal Introgression Dating

Que reste-t-il des Hommes de Cro-Magnon 150 ans après leur découverte ?

An extended admixture pulse model reveals the limitations to Human-Neandertal introgression dating

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