There's No Single Cradle of Humankind

Go here to subscribe to The Universe on your favorite podcast app: complexly.io/theuniverse
It would take decades for paleontologists to realize that maybe there wasn’t just one so-called "cradle of humankind," and realize that maybe they’d been asking the wrong question all along.
*****
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to to.pbs.org/DonateEons
*****
Eons is a production of Complexly for PBS Digital Studios.
Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:
Kevin Lacson, Marco Narajos, Collin Dutrow, Pope John XII, Steven Kern, Aaditya Mehta, AllPizzasArePersonal, John H. Austin, Jr., Alex Hackman, Amanda Ward, Stephen Patterson, Karen Farrell, Trevor Long, Jason Rostoker, Jonathan Rust, Mary Tevington, Bart & Elke van Iersel - De Jong, Irene Wood, Derek Helling, Mark Talbott-Williams, Nomi Alchin, Duane Westhoff, Hillary Ryde-Collins, Yu Mei, Albert Folsom, Heathe Kyle Yeakley, Dan Caffee, Nick Ryhajlo, Jeff Graham
If you'd like to support the channel, head over to / eons and pledge for some cool rewards!
Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - / eonsshow
Twitter - / eonsshow
Instagram - / eonsshow
#Eons #evolution
References:
docs.google.com/document/d/1K...

[@AngryKittens]

"ew just dinosaurs" - snooty anthropologists

[@KhailSOLO]

😂😂😂

[@ydid687]

Brother ughh What the hell brother

[@netsherrera7193]

"We just missed by a chunk of existance of life years" 🥲

[@ryanreedgibson]

Awesome avatar! Slava Ukraini! From Arizona, USA!

[@eVill420]

@@ryanreedgibson thanks for the support for Europe

[@kenrickman6697]

“It’s complicated.” Describes family dynamics at every level, apparently.

[@applegal3058]

Indeed lol

[@mintybadger6905]

Some traditions never die.

[@petterbirgersson4489]

Facebook relationship status.

[@texasbeast239]

Paleontological Family Court, With Judge Judy in the Sky Sheindlin

[@SantiagoItzcoatl]

embrace complexity or else

[@DarthChewie]

Where did we come from? Where did we go? Where did we come from? Cotton Eye Joe.

[@futuristica1710]

😂

[@dylansimpson7831]

🫰🫰🫰

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

If I ever discover a fossil of an ancient hominid, I'll name it Cotton Eye Joe.

[@fexcab]

🫡 great job

[@Polloles]

😂😂😂

[@aplaceinthestars3207]

This is the sort of content that is great for the layperson who's been out of formal school for enough years and misses out on the current scientific consensus, especially when the last 5-10 years has had significant breakthroughs with DNA technology.

[@RavensEagle]

What is the current scientific consensus then smart guy?

[@CombatComics]

​@@RavensEaglelmao what? Go read something.

[@adronator]

@@RavensEagle Current consensus is that we weren’t fashioned by a Sky Wizard out of mud and a rib.

[@animatorofanimation128]

@@adronatorI love how atheism is just a personality type for some people. I mean without even being prompted they HAVE to insult religious people, like they are meeting their Reddit quota for the day

[@douglemay7989]

@@animatorofanimation128 The culture war is raging.

[@BlueTyphoon7]

I know I shouldn't giggle about it, but forgive me. The artists who make the CG renders of ancient hominids always go out of their way to censor their groins each and every time. it's just really funny to me to imagine them walking around and hunting always making sure to cover themselves from the perspective of any would-be viewers.

[@nicholsonastrid]

I'm glad somebody else noticed

[@chrystals.4376]

You never know if somebody is watching it on a bus.

[@Renoroc]

Perhaps clothing evolved to protect those areas from sharp teeth, hooves and horns?

[@DrakeN-ow1im]

Much of the blame for that can be accredited to the Abrahamic religions et al.

[@ikebeckman1074]

That gazelle’s ear was doing some heavy lifting for sure

[@lavioliberty8066]

In 2022, Japan's national museum of science in Ueno held a special exhibition on this exact topic which was amazing. From the failure in finding the origin of homosapien to their excellently successful collection of dinosaur fossils.

[@PresidentEvil2]

The Pacific was crossed 13,000 years ago by boat. Asians landed in south america

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I guess one anthropologist's trash is another dinosaurologist's treasure.

[@daltongalloway]

“Great now we have to make a theme park”

[@yourhuckleberry6757]

Japan allied with Germany for multiple reasons. Look up endogenous Japanese.. Im sure they found what they were looking for.

[@chromothor6266]

The bottleneck that happens when a subset of a population migrates to a new habitat is more specifically called "founder effect" while what you might call a "classical bottleneck" happens due to population shrinkage like in cheetahs

[@helenamcginty4920]

I read a few years ago that our species did in fact hit a bottleneck about 70,000 yrs ago. We were down to about 1000 or so 'breeding pairs' according to one suggestion.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Founder effect is correct but bottleneck is also valid, as it's an analogy and not a precise technical term, also there's no substantive difference between the two phenomenons you exemplify: they both produce essentially the same results (some original genetics are removed from the result on "random" basis).

[@zo5679]

​@@helenamcginty4920is it because the Toba eruptions?

[@joycebrewer4150]

​@helenamcginty4920 Less than a dozen pairs of humans at one point.

[@aste4949]

​​@@joycebrewer4150Worst one was estimated down to 1,280 breeding individuals, still more than a dozen individuals thankfully. I'm definitely curious on which if any of the proposed bottleneck incidents get borne out by further research. Genetics is such a powerful tool!

[@dorongrossman-naples9207]

I love that you guys include the historical background for these discoveries. It really helps contextualize them.

[@judgeberry6071]

As opposed to what?

[@AnaphylaxisByPeanutBrittle]

​@@judgeberry6071as opposed to just saying "this team of people found this stuff". As opposed to not including historical background that does not provide any context or extra information.

[@apestrong]

The bottleneck of genes leaving Africa is really fascinating! Gives a whole new perspective on the diversity of life

[@nakenmil]

It's also a clear indicator why it's completely nonsensical to talk about "human races" sorted by continental origin (ie. Europeans, Asians, Africans, etc.), because the genetic diversity WITHIN Africa is far greater than the entire rest of the world. If I remember correctly, mitochondrial lineages have been traced back to a single split: there's the Khoi-San peoples of the Kalahari, and then there's... EVERYONE ELSE. So basically, a Zulu and an Inuit and a Frenchman and a Korean are all more closely related genetically than any of these are to the indigenous people of the Kalahari. Pretty wild.

[@notaspeck6104]

@nakenmil Literally. Like race and culture are two distinct things. The layman’s perception of race is dated and primitive.

[@patreekotime4578]

​@@notaspeck6104It's almost like race is just a social construct.

[@Gildedmuse]

​@@patreekotime4578Can we get maybe get some new plans to change up this construct? Just a little. You know take out some racism here, add some understanding of human evolution there....

[@blazer9547]

All non Africans are genetically similar

[@experience741]

"sir we found dinosaur fossil" "You're failure"

[@golden_smaug]

Lucy's distant cousins were estranged and didn't want to be found

[@koreyb]

Lucy took the secret of why Homo Erectus all died out to her grave. But I think we could all guess why. If you know what I mean.

[@lightbeingform]

'braided stream' is a very nice turn of phrase, i heartily approve

[@aidanb.c.2325]

I wrote my Master's thesis on the initial human settlement of Australia and its implications for the Multiregional and Out-of-Africa models. This video feels very familiar. That could also be because I taught Intro to Human Evolution at a community college for 15 years lol.

[@atmanebedjou8455]

A lot of speculation but no evidence. A theory built on speculation.

[@krizcillz]

i'm curious, what did your thesis suggest on dates and speciation?

[@andrabook8758]

I still think that all the hypotheses are incomplete. It still leave a LOT open to interpretations. To me the 1 source for all evolution has never made sense. It does not hold water for any of the other species.

[@DesmondKarani]

@@atmanebedjou8455 There's a lot of evidence on this theory. What alternative theory do you have? I'm curious.

[@MungoManic]

Is it published somewhere? I'd love to read it!

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

When she called the dinosaur find "failure", I have heard it in Steven He's voice, loud and reverberating. 😂 I don't know if my brains instant association is cool or disturbing.

[@danielpicassomunoz2752]

Faaaaaaliiiure

[@joebwannabe]

What da hail did you say

[@jaidadeclouette1989]

I love that guy!

[@petsgamesandrobots438]

Emotional daaamaage!

[@alfaseng]

"Faaaaiiiiiluuureeee. Already dead due to asteroid haiyaa, my ancestors the rats can survive a measly rock from space, let alone your cousin Timmy can survive Earth tossed out of orbit." ~ Steven He, probably

[@colinmorris3526]

The cradle of mankind needs renaming “the classroom of mankind”

[@DSAK55]

school yard of mankind

[@almightyyt2101]

YoMTv Welcome to another episode of Mankinds Crib!

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

7:54 one great argument against stereotypes. A group people can't really "all be a certain way" when genetics show just how different people actually are. :)

[@katelynnehansen8115]

We’re just as different as we are the same. It’s startling to think what a small portion of our DNA responsible for our mosaic of unique traits.

[@Bubble-Foam]

@@katelynnehansen8115 It’s “small” in comparison to the sheer quantity of dna that does either really basic functions, or nothing at all.

[@Spearca]

I thought this was building to the "Out of Africa Again and Again" model which largely synthesizes the two described.

[@Idellphany]

Gosh I feel incredibly validated, as I disagreed about all this with my archaeology professor back in 2002 haha. The idea of only 1 wave once was always dumb to me.

[@orbitalvagabond7371]

Well, it was only the one wave that survived extinction, unless you mean the minority genetic share of the other two species.

[@Idellphany]

@@orbitalvagabond7371 "In May 2023, scientists reported, based on genetic studies, a more complicated pathway of human evolution than previously understood. According to the studies, humans evolved from different places and times in Africa, instead of from a single location and period of time." wikipedia Also why would you ever think genetics is static? (as in it hasn't changed in 300k years) The fact that we see any other hominid dna still after how many bottle necks and 300,000 years of dna recombination is very notable.

[@Idellphany]

@@orbitalvagabond7371 We are only now starting to sequence really old DNA and we will get a much better picture once this process is further explored.

[@krizcillz]

Suffer together, had a similar experience. Archeology teachers seem to be a bad lot 😂

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@Idellphany - Whatever: that's just empty chatter. A typical European "multiregional" genetics is 2.4% (all of it Neanderthal and not even from European Neanderthals but Asian ones rather) and, with lesser variations, it's the same for all the rest of humans. In short: we are still more than 95% uniregional, from the Nile region to be specific.

[@lhurst9550]

It was not linear, nor a tree, but more of a bush. Many, many starts and stops and mixing.

[@brothermine2292]

Isn't the topology of a bush the same as the topology of a tree? A better analogy might be a web, which has interconnections between strands.

[@ecurewitz]

Or a braided stream as mentioned

[@Bubble-Foam]

@@brothermine2292 Yeah, only difference between a bush and a tree is height.

[@davideleazar5721]

"Ningún humano es una isla" Tremendo

[@patrickf.4440]

A more accurate Spanish translation of John Donne's poem would be, "Ningún hombre es una isla." But I am sure Donne meant no hominid is an island .

[@ambulocetusnatans]

Taung Child looks like my little brother if he had facial hair at 8.

[@chemquests]

This year is the 50th anniversary of discovering Lucy!

[@Shantosh9550]

Pls do an episode on India when it was an island during the mesozoic after breaking off from Gondwana.

[@tim.a.k.mertens]

Omg yes I'm so curious about this

[@1331423]

The Common Descent podcast has a great episode about this! Give them a try

[@KellyClowers]

@@1331423 second that! They do great deep dives on all kinds of paleo/evolution/zoology things (and botany with Dr. Aly Baumgartner)

[@ibrav7979]

​@@1331423episode number?

[@chemquests]

Early misdirection on where to look also came from religious ideas like the Garden of Eden (& literalists actually expecting to find it).

[@sophiejones3554]

Yep, that definitely played into the whole "Lemuria" thing. People really wanted to find a Garden of Eden type origin, in order to reconcile their religious beliefs with science.

[@bradw.1945]

I'd be thrilled to find dinosaur bones. Maybe I should start digging up my back yard.

[@xINVISIGOTHx]

I wish I lived somewhere where dinosaurs lived. I'd be digging all the time

[@bradw.1945]

No dinosaurs where I live either. The land was totally scoured by glacier activity. Everything left is either younger than a million years or from the Pleistocene.

[@smalltime0]

@@bradw.1945 That's the main issue, also it'd have to be the right conditions to preserve a fossil in the first place.

[@istvansipos9940]

KFC chicken wings. With bonus dinosaur bones

[@DarthChewie]

@@bradw.1945 Unless I'm missing something, that seems like a pretty roundabout way of saying 'everything left is younger than 2.6 millions years'... Also, have you tried digging deeper? But learn from my mistakes: When you hit mantle, you've gone too far. It melted my shovel.

[@Gildedmuse]

6:20 Love this shot showing just how big Africa is. Maps dont always capture just how big many places are.

[@superericdude100]

I love how they manage to send "the message" no matter what they are talking about

[@emiliiiaaaaaa]

i love this channel hopefully when i’m a paleontologist i can be a host

[@Adi-8529]

That’s such a super ambition!!!

[@zantetsu8674]

@@Adi-8529 The paleontologist part or the KZbin host part? I know which one *I* think is a worthwhile ambition ...

[@malkong2784]

i’ve watched every video yall have, i’ve been watching since day one. I love you guys, thank you all for always giving me something educational to look forward too, it’s made my life a lot easier than yall could ever know

[@SuperLoops]

now I need to know why that guy thought we came from an island that sank into the indian ocean it seems like such a wild idea to pull outve nowhere

[@smalltime0]

The idea predated the notion of plate tectonics and continental drift. Its seems easy to discredit with hindsight (we have tools like seismology and 'advanced' genetic testing), but basically everyone was looking to explain why its very obvious that we are one species - but why are there such radical racial differences. Its easy enough to explain Afro-Eurasia being fine, but you have people in the Americas, Oceania and the Pacific that wouldn't have been in contact with each other for millennia. Islands at the time were known to rise and fall on occasion and Lemuria sort of bridged India to Australia and Madagascar. The other cut off islands would have been the result of smaller bridges that had since disappeared. The basis of the wild speculation is that the Lemur are in Madagascar and India but not Africa, its not the only animal where that's true. And the theory isn't that wild when you consider during the ice age there were actually land bridges/shallower waters which did enable migration of humans (and for horses to get to asia before going extinct in the americas)

[@ldbarthel]

I wouldn't say out of nowhere. There is an antecedent in the account of Atlantis from Plato. Also, the idea of a global flood as described in Genesis still had adherents. (FWIW, it's far more likely that the various flood narratives are based on local catastrophic events, although there is also some cross-pollination between cultures in the structure and details of the stories.)

[@smalltime0]

@@ldbarthel Also the sea people in the Bronze Age collapse

[@LuisAldamiz]

Ever heard of "the lost continent of Lemuria"? Well, you didn't miss much, but that's what passed as respectable science a century ago or so...

[@smalltime0]

@@LuisAldamiz wow you got what the OP was talking about. Its easy to dismiss in the age of seismology and hydrology and the like, but trying to explain observable facts, using observable facts... Lemuria makes sense.

[@nemosomen]

Where did we come from? Where did we go? Where did we come from, human anthro?

[@Wanhope2]

🎉🎉Always celebrate a new Eons video!

[@baraskparas9559]

Great presentation as usual. Eloquent and informative.

[@ruyfernandez]

Thanks for this video! I am a student and I am writing a paper and about to start a PhD about this subject.

[@iron3491]

There is something humbling about watching these videos. It really puts into perspective how all of our ancestors have not been struggling for better lives for decades or centuries but rather millions of years.

[@kiancuratolo903]

Its so interesting that while the 'no single time and place' theory was disproven it had a kind of smaller resurrection with the qualifier 'no one time or place in Africa'

[@Taiiena]

Delightfully informative video👍🏾

[@JamesLeatherman]

I miss Steve.

[@michaelpdawson]

I think that every time they read the names!

[@erdood3235]

What happened to him?

[@michaelmayhem350]

Me too but my aim is improving

[@samh9436]

Same.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

​@@erdood3235 We don't really have a way of knowing. I would guess a change in financial situation.

[@that_one_momo_guy]

Easily one of the best popular science channels out there, thank you for amazing, detailed, nuanced and critical content! PS if you guys bring back the Eons t-shirts I'll buy one instantly lol

[@netsherrera7193]

Thank you VERY MUCH for this explanation! 🙏

[@GLBinNP]

Excellent video, thanks !!

[@RythmicRaindrops]

I love these Super difficult to answer questions. It's really fun to try to comprehend those tens of thousands of years have gone into the evolution of our species, And all of the species before them

[@PulseHistory]

ach release is like a gift! Thank you for your labor.

[@nsl-u-boot8464]

Thank you so much for making such enlightening content!

[@JoseReyes-yn3xj]

Great video! Thank you for informing me on our (human's) history.

[@Beryllahawk]

I much prefer the interwoven braid type idea for our lineage; it seems a LOT more logical given what we know about evolution in general terms. Too, I reallllly think the initial ideas that there could be only one "correct human lineage" was rooted in some fairly unpleasant assumptions. Things the scientists at the time might not even have been aware of (or seen as a problem) but that definitely shaped HOW they looked for evidence and what they were willing to accept AS evidence. Which you did mention but I felt like pointing out that the systems of colonialism really did (and do) extend right through every single thing Western science has done. Glad to see us slowly but steadily shedding those old bad habits.

[@chriswatson7965]

I don't understand your post. First you say that you prefer the braided model, then you say that there isn't a correct model and imply that believing that there can be a correct model is bad science. Please explain.

[@tsopmocful1958]

This video and your comment try to emphasise colonialism whenever mentioning Western history as though it defines all of Western history - including our scientific history. Please keep in mind that things like studying and discovering the origin of human species wouldn't have even gone beyond the level of local myths in the first place if it wasn't for the Scientific Revolution initiated by the West and still largely carried by the West.

[@kyrab7914]

There was also a lot of phrenology- reading the bumps of the skull to determine intelligence of ppl. Also influenced by our friend racism and subsequently debunked

[@Dotsetc]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@tsopmocful1958I feel like only you assumed that because you mightve felt uncomfortable by it. Yes when it comes to subjects like this, racist undertones or full blown racism was quite a standard in the West from the 18th century on. They even purposefully did it to create a superiority idea backed by 'factual evidence' to the degree too many Western people believe these theories to be true to this very day. Doesnt mean the West hasnt contributed greatly. They just also destroyed reason just as much whenever it benefitted them.

[@davidschaftenaar6530]

​​@@Dotsetc What motivated the person's reply is irrelevant, how many people share their views is irrelevant. They either have a point or they don't. And in this case, I think this person _does_ have a point. You're asserting that Western colonialism and the hair brained attempts at justifying it were and (to a significant extent) still are the dominant influence when it comes to paleoanthropology and many other fields. Even prioritizing that influence above that of reason. That simply isn't true. If that were the case, we would never have ended up with a scientific consensus that so thoroughly invalidates both the concept of racial superiority/inferiority and the entire concept of race as a biologically meaningful way of categorizing human beings. The reason those ideas are no longer accepted as scientifically valid (which, very true, they once were) is because, when scientists in the West were presented with the choice between following the evidence, or clinging to views that conveniently validated their worldview and their own position in the existing social hierarchy: They largely chose to follow the evidence.

[@Myself-yf5do]

So Africa was so harsh that our prehistoric ancestors evolved better brains to figure out how to cope with the challenges?

[@LovelyRobotFigurine-lr5pu]

😂😅😂

[@zachhoff9876]

Great video! Learned a lot. Thanks

[@viyorel]

i LOVE learning about ancient humans

[@AvadGroup]

Mood changed… great day…. New video from eons 🎉🎉

[@Peecamarke]

Great vid! So informative I was always confused by the different areas considered cradles of civilization va cradles of our species and etc

[@70SavageCCC]

This video was so needed!

[@stevefisher2553]

So cool! Ty

[@nicennice]

The only "problem" with this video is that it's only 12min long. I wish I'd studied this subject at university and not computer science 😒.

[@CSRaleigh]

Bet archeologists and anthropologists could benefit from your skillset and you could work and learn with them. Just a thought.

[@Alice_Walker]

I absolutely LOVE these early human videos! So cool!! 💜

[@Serenity_Dee]

2:13 When I was a teenager (30+ years ago) the estimate for divergence from chimpanzees and bonobos was 2 or 3 mya, according to what I remember reading at the time. Of course, at the time, we also thought New World monkeys were more closely related to Old World monkeys than either group is to apes, and that the ape lineage split off before that split, so monkeys and apes were two different clades. Now I know that genomics and cellular studies have conclusively demonstrated that New World monkeys split off from the Old World monkey lineage much earlier than we did, and apes are also in the monkey clade.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Should be at least 8 million years, notably because Sahelanthropus is already very clearly in our line and not theirs (upright walking, some brain features like us even if it was still a small brain). Various more serious estimates are between 8 Ma to maybe as much as 17 Ma (I lean for 10-12 Ma). A key calibration point is the split between chimps and bonobos, which must coincide with the formation of the Congo River basin, which is not precisely dated but probably c. 1.7 Ma ago.

[@marksmanentertainment]

I love this channel

[@SinKimishima]

My fridge is the crade of new fungi-kind

[@noneyabizz8337]

Lol, you edited and the comment is still bad

[@philipblount2561]

Bet. We're sending a team to your location.

[@CdFMasterVideo]

Wait till in interbreeds with mine

[@rabidpichu7391]

Odd flex, but okay

[@rabidpichu7391]

Lmao jk can totally relate

[@AlaskanMagicK9]

Love it! Reminded me of my anthropology class in high school

[@vladciobanu7480]

Great insights, such complexity!

[@aashutoshmule]

'No human is an island' I like that statement

[@ktspirit1]

No Man is an Island. A poem by John Donne.

[@aashutoshmule]

@@ktspirit1 Oh...I did not know that...thanks for sharing. Will read the poem.

[@atomictraveller]

i was gonna debate but ur right, once ur an island, they call you a demon or some other shi not man then they HSS you from the FUSION center

[@SacrosanctStories]

Thank you for recognizing indigenous people at the ends of your episodes. I have been watching the show for years, and appreciate this sooo much. Also, I miss the jokes....

[@chiccngeorge3058]

This entire video was about indigenous peoples lmao I don’t see how you people can think there’s a difference from native Africans and any other native group on earth.

[@redwolfjoy]

I love this video! I very much enjoyed this one.

[@marqessanzcora4089]

As always..., thanks

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

3:26 I love that you put the science in the context of history! ❤ -happy patron!

[@notimetolive12]

Was Lemuria full of Golem people and loved music and symphonies?? (I am kidding,, It's a game reference)..

[@texasbeast239]

Poor Sméagol, we barely knew ye.

[@notimetolive12]

@@texasbeast239 I was talking about Genshin, not Lotr.. It's Golem, not gollum.. But anyway, happy day 😊

[@misterbadguy7325]

Lemuria got picked up in occultism, hence it tends to show up in that kind of literature.

[@MegaJessness]

Naw, Lemuria was totally full of ancient humans who had alchemy figured out and were mostly water Adepts :D

[@Goomba2007]

The idea that humans all came from a now sunken island is kinda fun. Evidence, as stated, suggests otherwise but the idea that we are all displaced natives of some forgotten continent has narrative appeal

[@dwilly8381]

This is. one of my top fav videos thus far

[@TristanKing-dq5cd]

Hella early and very excited for this episode. Thank you for helping advance the march of Knowledge!

[@mistergoats4380]

Yeah, life is often not that simple.

[@gsilcoful]

Thank you.

[@highfive7689]

Kallie Moore, thank you for a wonderfully presented program. I also know that some of your own researches may have been used in the programming. Lots of hard work from all of you. Absolutely well thought out explanation that takes into account all the contradictory theories, and yet unites them. We can call it - The Unifying theory of Homo Sapiens evolution. - lol. But, it is the only concept that takes into account genetic, geological, Time scales and physical fossil distributions.

[@mjacobs8139]

Brb. Gotta watch the Kendrick video and come back 4:57

[@leeshmonsterzero]

@5:40 does anyone else hear a Red-winged blackbird?

[@stopdacap2991]

I definitely heard it.

[@GillianMStarlight]

It sounds like one, at least it's not the red-tailed hawk sound that almost always gets dubbed over bald eagles. It helps that I saw and heard maybe dozens of them last Sunday.

[@guyh.4553]

Great episode as normal!

[@djSpinege]

I Clicked on this just to say the title made me literally face palm.

[@MrJacksonstudios]

She's so cute, in a science way.

[@futuristica1710]

True. Smart and beautiful.

[@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061]

The origin of Fire and Art might be further back in history than we thought and neither are homo sapiens in origin. Fire--some mild evidence points to Homo erectus and art might date before us contemporary humans (And no, it's not Neanderthal--there is evidence it goes back even further according to one doc I saw). ^^ Sticking in my anthro degree stick for maybe future episodes.

[@Toxicpoolofreekingmascul-lj4yd]

I read a hypothesis that our early evolution was in a very active volcanic area with lava and fire as a constant presence on the landscape for millions of years. He speculated we learned how to use it and control it gradually as we became habituated to it's presence but didn't leave evidence because we were simply using fire naturally present and not yet making hearths or creating fire from scratch. That's just the broad outlines but it was intriguing and explained a lot. I suspect he may becon to something.

[@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061]

@@Toxicpoolofreekingmascul-lj4yd They found some mild evidence for fire pits for Homo Erectus which shows ability to control fire, though this is kinda disputed, we are 100% sure it's Homo Heidelbergensis had it. The lava idea I haven't heard widespread that much, but early settlements did set up near large deposits. But looked it up... sounds like you're referring to "Speculations about the Effects of Fire and Lava Flows on Human Evolution" by Michael Medler? I should note his main field of study is Geography (Which also deals with humanity as well), but there isn't much follow up to back him quite yet and most of his ideas are speculation if you read his paper carefully. But finding hard evidence would be difficult. Homo Naledi according to the Netflix documentary about them had art. Which just blows your mind. But Neanderthal (whose classification is under dispute) also had art. So this might argue that we're missing art of our early human ancestors? Given how Naledi art is much like later art in caves, it leaves a lot of questions.

[@franceshorton918]

Just following along your thoughts about early hominids being familiar with fire, long enough to learn about it.... WHT didn't other animals learn to be 'not afraid' of fire? Lions, wolves, bears, and gorillas,, etc, they are all very intelligent mammals. I know we had opposable thumbs, but t would they have been ready for the fine muscle control and the care needed to avoid burns? Most non domesticated animals avoid fire

[@Toxicpoolofreekingmascul-lj4yd]

@@franceshorton918 probably the ability to pick up a burning stick and also feed it fuel for which opposable thumbs would be essential. Intelligence and a larger brain, which meant curiosity certainly were important. Several scenarios: a predator chasing you, in desperation you run towards a burning lava pool and the predator stops chasing you. This becomes a regular tactic beginning our relationship with fire which we now see as a friend. Perhaps you even begin to live near it. An animal burned by a fire is scavenged, the cooked meat much easier to chew and digest. The early hominins begin bringing scavenged meat to fires or lava pools and deliberately cooking it. Those seem pretty plausible, maybe one led to the other? We know chimpanzees can learn a new skill and pass it to their offspring, there are whole groups that do things others don't. It's a form of culture, I could see a group learning to use fire, it becomes part of their culture and a strong evolutionary pressure ensues making that group evolve much differently than all the others. What do you think?

[@kimyoonmisurnamefirst7061]

@@franceshorton918 Other animals, especially on the open savannah, likely were used to being surrounded by fire, but with the inability to *control* it. For humans (in the deleted reply for whatever reason even though the deleted reply had nothing threatening or mean in it but was pure academia and was merely citing sources without any links) the evolution of the hominin brain might have depended very much on cooked meat from several supporting articles. In another words, there is a link between bigger brains and meat, though there is also the sea hypothesis out there too. The ability to control fire would help kill all sorts of things in the food: parasites, harmful bacteria, and also give defense. So yes, those thumbs probably played a role over time with the control of fire.

[@eschwarz1003]

so fascinating

[@vincentdavis1926]

7:53 is when she gets to the point

[@xyzpdq1122]

No bad jokes!?!? Kallie…

[@eclecticaaronbentley]

An informative and entertaining episode as usual, but what was up with the audio? It sounds like multiple sections were re-recorded away from the studio.

[@abhayanand9585]

I love the work you too... I think no one in KZbin makes content related to evolution, And Being Bio student I love learning about evolution! ❤❤❤

[@brucewayne000]

Great content!!!

[@g-rexsaurus794]

"other cultures had their own origin stories" And? They are not scientific

[@hattielankford4775]

Did you watch the video?

[@g-rexsaurus794]

@@hattielankford4775 I did, why? It's not particularly relevant

[@davidschaftenaar6530]

Ah, yes. That'll be the influence of a certain postmodern ideology that views evidence-based scientific theories as just another kind of story, no more or less valid than any other.

[@LivingWithGout]

I know for a fact I came out of the great rift of Africa

[@windlessoriginals1150]

Thank you

[@threejaguar]

We do have a single point of original origin, but finding it will be difficult. At some point, our last common ancestor with the Chimp/ape line merged the 2nd and 3rd gene into one gene to form our line of descent.

[@mrrobototoo6663]

If all these different population were able to interbreed with each other, then they were all part of the same species, as per the conventional biological species concept. The account you've given simply pushes back the question to what was the most recent common ancestor that all these population shared. Even the diagram at 10:15 has a single original stem.

[@Toxicpoolofreekingmascul-lj4yd]

Species isn't that cut and dried. Lions and tigers are certainly separate species yet still capable of reproduction with each other. Even a few case of different genera successfully cross breeding exist.

[@Lau3464l]

“Species” is a man-made construct. The lines between species can become incredibly blurry as we move further back in time.

[@agab3asbgedsbef479]

@@Toxicpoolofreekingmascul-lj4yd yet those species “tions and “ligers” cant reproduce because theyre infertile if humans could reproduce with other subspecies and they would be infertile then those mixed species genes would never reach us because we cant reproduce with infertile people you know? infertile people die without kids even if we all reproduced with another subspecies we would just all be infertile and die go extinct

[@dr.victorvs]

Map projections that aren't area-corrected, like Mercator's, would have made it look more unlikely that humans came from Africa, just due to how small it makes Africa seem. Africa is in fact 30.37 million km², compared to Europe's 10.53 million km².

[@Empyrean55]

Still super cool that I can go visit the cradle of human kind in South Africa, its really the most stunning of places to visit!

[@duncanangelotizon9188]

For a long time the consensus was that humans anatomically similar to us first emerged 200,000 years ago, it’s amazing how this video already has updated information stating that it was as farther back as 300,000 years ago. I also read that from a book called “The science of being human.” It’s fascinating how science is a continual quest for knowledge.

[@NachtmahrNebenan]

Walking on two legs seems to have developed multiple times. But only we survived for still unknown reasons.

[@michaelrunco5940]

Of course you mean specifically in apes.

[@NachtmahrNebenan]

@@michaelrunco5940 Thank you for the addition 🌺

[@nebulan]

I'm sure many factors. "It's complicated" covers much of science and history. Homo sapiens also has other advantages: throwing, sweat, cooking meat to support bigger brains, etc. I'm sad we don't know our ancient cousins today.

[@colinmorris3526]

In the video she mentions that one species did not replace all, rather through interbreeding amongst different populations that had the same origin(homo erectus) we are the surviving result of that happening, also all of the populations were upright and walked and their genes(or rather the best of those genes) survive amongst us.

[@MorrisJohn-vo2vn]

​@@colinmorris3526 Effectively, one species replaced the other. Europeans as an example are like 1% or less Neanderthal on average. That's not Homo Sapien - Neanderthal hybrid, that's Homo Sapien.

[@PrisPrivate]

First!! (Maybe, I could be wrong)

[@comradebanana129]

Corrrect

[@Omarcomics911]

it's me first 🥇🥇🥇🥇

[@HangrySaturn]

No, I was first!

[@Omarcomics911]

@@HangrySaturn I'M FIRST 🥇🏆🏆

[@PrisPrivate]

@@HangrySaturn Congrats :)

[@TheStrengthofBeer]

This new hypothesis is so different (but fascinating) from what I've learned for the last 40 years. I like it! Our story keeps getting better.

[@tanvirjalal4657]

Excellent

[@ek-kn7vn]

"Mixed their genes" Oh yeah, I bet they did 😏

[@ryanreedgibson]

So, who's going to call the Cradle of Humankind and tell them they have to change their name and print new maps?

[@catfishwithwhiskers]

Nah you call them and say congratulations, because apparently they're no longer single.

[@cameron1632]

Wow!

[@multiyapples]

This is pretty cool to discover.