Ancient Humans Survive Climate Extinction Event 900,000 Years Ago During Early Pleistocene Ice Age Transition: New Study Reveals

Modern human species Homo sapiens has been on Earth in the last 300,000 years, based on fossils and DNA examined by scientists. While it is clear that the sophisticated thinking and tool-making abilities of our species allowed us to survive and evolve, the plight of our human ancestors or relatives further into the past remains a mystery. Now, a recent study suggests that ancient humans survived a cataclysmic event almost 1 million years ago.

The new study, led by researchers from Italy and the United States, revealed that a hominin population bottleneck due to a climate extinction event occurred 900,000 years ago. The significant population-reducing phenomenon coincided with the migration of early humans from Africa and the ice age transition during the Early Pleistocene geologic period.

This sub-epoch lasted approximately from 2.6 million to 780,000 years ago.

Hominins are ancient primates that existed long before the emergence and evolution of modern humans (H. sapiens). In the new research paper, scientists acknowledged that the chronology and causes of hominin migrations out of Africa have become a subject of interest recently. In particular, there is a significant focus on how an ancient ice age kept Earth's hominin population at bay and how our human ancestors survived.

Climate Extinction Event

(Photo : Photo by Rostyslav Savchyn on Unsplash)

The planet underwent a climate extinction event 900,000 years ago, resulting in a hominin population bottleneck in Eurasia during the first major ice age of the Pleistocene. This is according to the study published in the journal PNAS on March 11, which confirmed the chronology of key hominin sites in Eurasia.

The research paper also highlights how the ancient humans came close to extinction.

The research team involved in the study based their conclusions on the existing genomic models and concluded the extinction-level ice age coincided with a major diaspora from Africa into Eurasia. Evidence shows the main cause of the hominin population bottleneck is climate change, a natural phenomenon that can still occur even without the influence of today's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

Also Read: Ancient Humans Might Have Settled in South America over 18,000 Years Ago After Discovery of Chromosomes

Hominin Population Bottleneck

Previous research has shown that the severe hominin population bottleneck phenomenon occurred several times in the past. According to a 2000 study published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, anatomical and archaeological evidence shows demographic changes that include population expansions and contractions. Traces of inbreeding were also mentioned during the early population bottleneck in humans.

Since humanity's ancestors were nearly extinct due to climate change, scientists are also looking at other factors that contributed to population bottlenecks in the past, which can also happen to animals and other living organisms.

According to experts, a population bottleneck can occur during an environmental disaster, excessive hunting of a species, and habitat destruction that leads to deaths of organisms.

In the 21st century, climate change and global warming remain significant threats to potential population bottleneck events, especially in the coming decades, as scientists have warned in recent years.