Surviving the Brink: How Humanity's Ancestors Defied Extinction
A new genetic study suggests that the ancestors of modern humans experienced a massive population crash around 930,000 years ago, with fewer than 1,280 breeding individuals remaining. The researchers propose that this bottleneck, which lasted for over 100,000 years, was caused by a drastic climate change. The study raises the possibility that this event helped split early humans into two evolutionary lineages, leading to the emergence of Neanderthals and modern humans. However, some experts are skeptical of the statistical methods used in the study and suggest alternative explanations for the genetic diversity observed today.