Ancient humanity was nearly wiped out around 900,000 years ago, when the global population shrank to approximately 1,280 reproducing individuals. Furthermore, the population of early human ancestors remained this small for approximately 117,000 years. The statistical method used genetic information from 3,154 living human genomes. The researchers argue that the population collapse is related to a gap in the fossil record, which could lead to the emergence of a new hominid species that was a common ancestor of modern humans, or Homo sapiens, and Neanderthals. The population bottleneck coincided with dramatic climate changes during what is known as the Middle Pleistocene transition, the research team suggests. Glacial periods became longer and more intense, leading to a drop in temperature and very dry weather.
