Giant_and_Dwarf-FIN

Giant and Dwarfto us under names such as the Peking Man, Java Man, Heidelberg Man, Neanderthals orDenisovans. None of these, however, are direct ancestor to us. 4 These were also not eventhe very first attempts by our own species to leave Africa; in present day Oman and atMount Carmel in Israel artifacts and remains of modern people dating back 100,000 yearshave been found. However, it appears these groups failed to expand further and in the caseof Mt. Carmel, the horizon of modern people is covered over by the younger Neanderthalhorizon. So it seems the first modern people who left Africa fell victim to their more robustcousins, the Neanderthals. It was not until the next “out of Africa” migration, that Homosapiens fully succeeded. Unfortunately for the Neanderthals they lost the competitionagainst modern man and became extinct around 25,000 years ago.You may ask another question: how did our predecessors manage to cross the 25 kmwide Mandab Strait 70,000 years ago? Were they capable of building crafts which couldcarry several people and cross such wide expanses of water? Well, we know the answerfrom paleoclimatology at the time of successful migration from Africa, the world wasdeep in the last ice age and sea levels were around 110 meters below their current level.The islands in the Mandab Strait were connected with the mainland and the strait itselfwas much narrower than it is today. Nevertheless, to cross it a relatively robust craft wasnecessary, as well as a good deal of luck!Further migrations of Africans throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and eventually theNorth and South Americas have been the subject of research. Modern genetics enables scientiststo map genetic variations that we all possess in our mitochondrial as well as nuclearDNA. 5 Archeologists are able to trace human migrations through archeological findings;however, unfortunately sea levels have since risen by 110 meters preventing archeologistsfrom uncovering any archeological sites which would have provided information aboutthese coastal migration routes along the beaches of southern Asia and Europe.The relatively late exodus of our ancestors from Africa means that Africa has by far thebiggest genetic diversity of humankind. Therefore, a European, Chinese, Australian Aborigineor Native American from the Amazon jungle may be genetically more closely relatedto each other than individuals from two different African tribes that live just a few hundredmiles apart.For many people Africa is fascinating due to her spectacular nature, particularly the animals.No other continent offers you such a variety and number of large species, reminding4 This statement may not be absolutely true: scientists of Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany publisheda paper in 2010 providing evidence about small elements of Neanderthal genes being presentin genome of the modern people. The assumption is that some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, interbreedingbetween modern people and Neanderthals happened, leaving with us 1 % to 4 % of our genes.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7685610/Humans-share-Neanderthal-genes-from-interbreeding-50000-years-ago.html.5 Those interested to learn more about these topics may choose to turn to a number of excellent books suchas The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey by Spencer Wells ( Random House, 2003) or The Seven Daughtersof Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry by Bryan Sykes (W.W. Norton Company, 2001).10