Multiregional Hypothesis 'And Out Of Africa' Model

Humans developed in Africa. “…, indicates that the earliest stages of human evolution were also played out in Africa.” (Page 36)

Science researcher Christopher Stringer and science writer Robin McKie state that modern humans first developed in Africa and then spread to other parts of the world.

For many years there has been a debate over where modern humans originated from. The first theory, out of Africa, discusses modern humans evolving in Africa. They migrated out to Eurasia and as the time went on their species evolved independently and developed into distinct species. All other human populations were eventually replaced with no interbreeding involved in the process and Homo sapiens had successfully dominated the rest of the world. On the other hand, the second theory, regional continuity, says that our earliest hominid ancestors had departed Africa and spread into other parts of the world later evolving into modern human beings. In this paper I will discuss the Regional continuity theory and elaborating on the Out of Africa theory. Evidence based on fossils, artifacts, and other crucial components will be discussed. Based on the evidence found I will come to a conclusion as to which theory I think best fits the origins of humans.

In the Article “Redrawing Humanity’s Family Tree” by John Noble Wilford, describes how two different skulls challenge the theories of human origins and migrations. The Central African skull, that dates back to nearly 7 million years ago, was assigned to a whole new genus and species because of its apelike and evolved hominid species. The 1.75-million-year-old Georgian skull shows evidence that the first hominids may have been intercontinental travelers who set motion the migrations that occupied the whole planet. Finally a third skull was found that is the same age and shares a resemblance but, the size of the skull suggests that the brain was smaller than expected for H. erectus.

One of the most fiercely debated issues in paleoanthropology points at the origins the primate species. The top two continents that have been very evident in our origins that can be traced to Africa and (Eur)Asia. African origin stresses the multiregional continuity theory it suggests a single origin for modern humans and gives an explanation to the Out-of-Africa model for the patter of our human evolution.

Currently, there is a dichotomy among archaeologists concerning the origin of modern humans. One main argument places emphasis on multi regional expansion of humans in which anatomically modern humans arose in multiple regions around the world. Another proposes that modern humans originated strictly from Africa before migrating to the rest of the world. While both theories have merit, archaeological evidence is in support of the Out of Africa model.

There is much speculation as to where humans today came from, until recently much was up for debate when considering where one came from. The film, The Human Family Tree, directed by Chad Cohen, produced by the National Geographic Channel in 2009 attempts to answer the question: Where did we (as humans) come from? The film’s answer to this question comes from the Genographic Project which aims to uncover the origins of humans as a modern species. “The Human Family Tree” argues that modern humans originated in Africa around 200,000 years ago. The film uses the evidence provided by the Genographic Project to support their claim.

What makes these two civilizations similar and different is their

One conceivable clarification is that a huge number of years prior, present day and bygone people in focal Africa interbred, adding to known cases of interbreeding – with Neanderthals in the Middle East, and with the cryptic Denisovans some place in southeast Asia.

According to physical evidence, and theories, scholars have concluded upon a whole hypothesis. Based on their knowledge and belief, modern humans diverged from Homo sapiens between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago specifically in Africa, that between 125,000 and 60,000 years ago members of Homo sapiens left Africa, and that these

Some scientists believe (Duarte et al., 1999) that Neanderthals and modern humans not only interbreed in Europe but Neanderthals are the biological and cultural evolutionary transition between archaic and early modern

Human evolution is the gradual process in which people, or Homo sapiens, originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence, particularly in the form of fossils and secondary remains, show that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people evolved over a period of approximately six million years. Humans are primates. Both genetic and physical similarities show that humans and the great apes (large apes) of Africa, chimpanzees (including bonobos, or so-called “pygmy chimpanzees”) and gorillas share a common ancestor that lived between 8 and 6 million years ago. The volume of fossils found in Africa suggests that most evolution occurred there and is likely the place of origin for early humans. This brings to fruition the “out of Africa” theory, also called the “single-origin hypothesis.”

There has been a great deal of heated debate for the last few decades about where modern Homo sapiens originated. From the battle grounds, two main theories emerged. One theory, labeled “Out-of-Africa” or “population replacement” explains that all modern Homo sapiens evolved from a common Homo erectus ancestor in Africa 100,000 years ago. The species began to spread and replace all other archaic human-like populations around 35,000 to 89,000 years ago. The rivaling opinion, entitled the “regional continuity” theory or “multiregional evolution” model refutes this theory and states modern humans evolved from various species of Homo erectus who interbred with others that lived in

The theories of human evolution may always cause a heated dispute. Each theory presents its own evidence proving

Human evolution according to research started over 6 million years ago. The outcome of the evolution process is the current human beings. Scientific studies have revealed over the years a remarkable affinity between the chimpanzees/Apes and human beings. Even though this reality is not a definitive prove that human beings evolved from apes, it does show that the human beings are in one way or another related to other primates. Scientists suppose that the humans and the primates shared a common ancestor. The subject of what makes humans what they are and their origin has been the exclusive purpose leading to many scientific studies globally (Coolidge & Wynn, 2011). Studies believe that Africa was the origin of evolution millions of years ago. Fossil remains have been discovered in different parts of Africa as well as other regions of the world. Different hominins have been discovered around the world in the last 1 million years. Thus, the different discoveries have led to comparisons between the various species of hominins to clarify on their similarities as well as differences. This essay seeks to explain whether they were distinctively different species or regional versions of the same species.