A groundbreaking genetic study led by Chinese scientists has revealed that our ancient human ancestors teetered on the brink of extinction nearly a million years ago, with their population dwindling to approximately 1,280 individuals. About the study: Published in the journal Science on Thursday, the study utilized a novel computer model called FitCoal to trace the genetic lineages of 3,154 present-day human genomes. The scientists found that approximately 98.7% of our human ancestors were lost during a population crash approximately 900,000 years ago.
The population of early humans dwindled to around 1,280 individuals during a time of dramatic climate change and remained that small for about 117,000 years, the study said.
A study published on Thursday claims that human ancestors teetered on the brink of extinction over 900,000 years ago. Based on a new method of analysis, scientists found that our ancestors survived in a group of less than 1,300 individuals. While most people nowadays worry about the overpopulation of planet Earth, which is currently hosting more than 8 billion individuals, our ancestors were facing a very different problem.Using a new technique to analyse genetic data, an international group of