Dr. Henry Gee

Yeah, well, who knows? By about 40,000 years, yeah, I suppose so. Yeah, 50,000 years ago, there were lots and lots of humans. 40,000 years ago, there was just one. It was just us. And we lived all over the old world. And by the end of the last glaciation, modern humans lived from the Arctic to the tropical forests, and even have moved into the Americas.

Yeah, well, who knows? By about 40,000 years, yeah, I suppose so. Yeah, 50,000 years ago, there were lots and lots of humans. 40,000 years ago, there was just one. It was just us. And we lived all over the old world. And by the end of the last glaciation, modern humans lived from the Arctic to the tropical forests, and even have moved into the Americas.

Yeah, well, who knows? By about 40,000 years, yeah, I suppose so. Yeah, 50,000 years ago, there were lots and lots of humans. 40,000 years ago, there was just one. It was just us. And we lived all over the old world. And by the end of the last glaciation, modern humans lived from the Arctic to the tropical forests, and even have moved into the Americas.

And only Antarctica, Madagascar, and New Zealand and some oceanic islands had not seen the tread of a human foot. But even those would succumb quite quickly.

And only Antarctica, Madagascar, and New Zealand and some oceanic islands had not seen the tread of a human foot. But even those would succumb quite quickly.

And only Antarctica, Madagascar, and New Zealand and some oceanic islands had not seen the tread of a human foot. But even those would succumb quite quickly.

I think the thing that one has to emphasise, though, is that this is not a tale of manifest destiny. there was nothing written to say that humans would succeed and drive all the other hominins to extinction. I mean, as we've seen, hominins tried to invade Neanderthal territory several times and failed. And another thing, it's about genetic diversity.

I think the thing that one has to emphasise, though, is that this is not a tale of manifest destiny. there was nothing written to say that humans would succeed and drive all the other hominins to extinction. I mean, as we've seen, hominins tried to invade Neanderthal territory several times and failed. And another thing, it's about genetic diversity.

I think the thing that one has to emphasise, though, is that this is not a tale of manifest destiny. there was nothing written to say that humans would succeed and drive all the other hominins to extinction. I mean, as we've seen, hominins tried to invade Neanderthal territory several times and failed. And another thing, it's about genetic diversity.

Neanderthals were unbelievably famey genetically. Now, it's known in Neanderthal history that most of them died out sometime in their history and that their range was recolonized by other Neanderthals from elsewhere. Well, the same is true for Homo sapiens. Humans have always been very, very rare. They've always been one meal from starvation and two or three meals from extinction.

Neanderthals were unbelievably famey genetically. Now, it's known in Neanderthal history that most of them died out sometime in their history and that their range was recolonized by other Neanderthals from elsewhere. Well, the same is true for Homo sapiens. Humans have always been very, very rare. They've always been one meal from starvation and two or three meals from extinction.

Neanderthals were unbelievably famey genetically. Now, it's known in Neanderthal history that most of them died out sometime in their history and that their range was recolonized by other Neanderthals from elsewhere. Well, the same is true for Homo sapiens. Humans have always been very, very rare. They've always been one meal from starvation and two or three meals from extinction.

They always lived in very, very small groups, which tends to be inbred and very thinly scattered over the landscape. And there have been times, maybe several, where humans have almost died out altogether. There was an episode about... 100,000 years ago, maybe a bit more, when humans almost died out and only lived in refuges in southern Africa, that's actually quite contentious.

They always lived in very, very small groups, which tends to be inbred and very thinly scattered over the landscape. And there have been times, maybe several, where humans have almost died out altogether. There was an episode about... 100,000 years ago, maybe a bit more, when humans almost died out and only lived in refuges in southern Africa, that's actually quite contentious.

They always lived in very, very small groups, which tends to be inbred and very thinly scattered over the landscape. And there have been times, maybe several, where humans have almost died out altogether. There was an episode about... 100,000 years ago, maybe a bit more, when humans almost died out and only lived in refuges in southern Africa, that's actually quite contentious.

But there is genetic evidence for repeated what's called genetic bottlenecks. That means that the population shrinks to a tiny, tiny amount and then reestablishes from that tiny, tiny population. And because there are only a certain amount of genetic variation in that tiny, tiny population, the subsequent population becomes very samey.

But there is genetic evidence for repeated what's called genetic bottlenecks. That means that the population shrinks to a tiny, tiny amount and then reestablishes from that tiny, tiny population. And because there are only a certain amount of genetic variation in that tiny, tiny population, the subsequent population becomes very samey.

But there is genetic evidence for repeated what's called genetic bottlenecks. That means that the population shrinks to a tiny, tiny amount and then reestablishes from that tiny, tiny population. And because there are only a certain amount of genetic variation in that tiny, tiny population, the subsequent population becomes very samey.

Everyone looks very similar because it's built from only a limited amount of genetic variation. And way back in hominin history, around a million years ago, there's been some recent work published in Science that described what must have been a very awkward age, about 800,000 years ago, where for a million years, there were only about 1,000 breeding humans at any one time.

Everyone looks very similar because it's built from only a limited amount of genetic variation. And way back in hominin history, around a million years ago, there's been some recent work published in Science that described what must have been a very awkward age, about 800,000 years ago, where for a million years, there were only about 1,000 breeding humans at any one time.