Posted on 05/14/2005 1:49:00 PM PDT by LibWhacker
The first humans who left Africa to populate the world headed south along the coast of the Indian Ocean, Science magazine reports.
Scientists had always thought the exodus from Africa around 70,000 years ago took place along a northern route into Europe and Asia.
But according to a genetic study, early modern humans followed the beach, possibly lured by a seafood diet.
They quickly reached Australia but took much longer to settle in Europe.
Dr Martin Richards of the University of Leeds, who took part in the study, says the first humans may have moved south in search of better fishing grounds when stocks in the Red Sea dwindled due to climate change.
"That might have been the push that set them off," he told the BBC News website.
DNA clues
When the first modern humans evolved in Africa, they lived mainly on meat hunted from animals. But by 70,000 years ago, they had switched to a marine diet, largely shellfish.
The new research suggests they moved along the coasts of the Arabian peninsula into India, Indonesia and Australia about 65,000 years ago. An offshoot later led to the settlement of the Middle East and Asia about 30 to 40,000 years ago.
The data comes from studies by two teams of scientists on the DNA of native people living in Malaysia and on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands between India and Burma.
Scientists can estimate how closely related we are by studying the DNA of the energy producing parts of the cell, our mitochondria.
So 'splain to me how these guys "know" us humans came out of Africa?
Well, of course, they followed the coast! The surfing was good and all the places where they could get drinks with little umbrellas in them were along the coast!
I thought I read in the lasr few weeks that there is serious doubt about a female out of Africa being the whole start of the human race.
I can't answer your question, but as an aside, I saw a program on the Science Channel last year that explained how ancient man knew Australia was there: namely, from his vantage point on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, he would've seen the smoke from Australian forrest fires. Supposedly, he then built rafts and crossed over.
Right - forgot how close Asian countries were to Oz ....
Boy, you're gonna have to ask someone who knows a lot more about than me! . . . But I'm assuming they "know" from the fossil record and the DNA trail. However, see x1stcav's comment. I saw something about that, too, and am trying to track it down.
lol
Your statement is the first and only one that has made sense to me. Thank you.
I have personally believed that our relatives originally came from La La Land, but those are only my beliefs. I bet too those Mai Tais were wonderful, the stick with those wonderful pineapple slices and cherries to give it added flavor. Oh for the good old days.
No - they're too poor to make the trip.
Thank you. My intentions were not to put you in a spot. I apologize. My question was out of order. It should have been a general question to "all."
My best regards.
It was those damn SUVs.
That was terribly insensitive of you. I'm going to go laugh for a half hour or so now.
Actually, the first humans came from what is now Florida, and they spread slowly across the "Americas". Eventually, some migrated to Asia, some to Africa, some to Ireland, etc. This is why so many people want to fly to Disney World, to find their roots.
Hey, no problem. I like being put on the spot as long as it's a positive experience and I learn something from it. And your question qualifies! Cheers! :-)
My EXACAT THEORY!!! How did you know? A stupid question on my part. The answer is because you are extremely smart. Disney World is La La Land!!! It’s so obvious!!! Even a blind person can see this.
What I want to know is whether this wave is post- or pre- Toba "bottleneck".
I always thought that Papuans and Aborigines were remnants of pre-bottleneck populations and the other races of the area later post bottleneck arrivals.
But this analysis has the migration occuring 5000 years AFTER the Toba eruption. Are they saying ALL the pre-Toba humans in Southeast Asia and Australia wiped out by Toba?
But according to a genetic study, early modern humans followed the beach, possibly lured by a seafood diet.
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