ANTH-1020-012-

Sp17

Modern Human
Origins (Regional
Continuity and
Replacement)

By
 Jensen

Derek Jensen

Many paleoanthropologists have wondered when the first humans started to appear on the

planet, going to great lengths in discovering the answer to this mystery. Most of their theories

are summarized into two different takes of modern human organs, the first being the replacement

theory and the second The Regional Continuity Model Multi Evolution. For one of the two

theories to be right the other has to be wrong.

The Replacement Theory claims that modern humans originated from Africa and

dispersed to other parts of the world. As modern humans spread across the world, they

interbreed with other hominins mostly in Europe and Asia, replacing them in the process.

(Jurmain, Essentials of Physical Anthropology, Page 287-288) Non-African humans and

Neanderthals share some common alleles, which some theorist believe that this is proof that they

interbreed with one another. African humans do not share as many alleles compared to the Non-

African humans. (Sankararaman, The Date of Interbreeding between Neandertals and Modern

Humans, 2012)

Playing devils advocate one may conclude that an earlier ancestor of the human and

Neanderthals actually left Africa and evolved into humans and Neanderthals, with the latter

becoming extinct. On the other hand, one would argue that this is not the case because when

Page | 1
 Jensen

both species appear on the fossil record show otherwise. Modern humans showed up on the

fossil record around 200,000 years ago and has is still thriving today. Neanderthals started

showing up on the European fossil record around 230,000 years ago, and disappeared 30,000

years ago. (Sankararaman, The Date of Interbreeding between Neandertals and Modern

Humans, 2012) The first European human settlers appeared in Europe around 40,000 years,

which are 10,000 before the Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record. From the time it

took the modern human to show up in Europe and is enough time for them meet up with the

Neanderthal communities had interbreed with them, which caused them to disappear.

(https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/migratory-crossings/) If this is the case, some

people today are descendants of the Neanderthal, and human.

The regional Continuity Model Multi Evolution (also known as The Regional Continuity

Theory) states that from the time many hominins left Africa, different populations migrated

throughout the world and through natural selection, evolved into the humans that we are today.

With different hominins, evolving into humans in different parts of the world would be one way

of explaining why there is a different variation amongst the Homo sapiens line. (TakahataL, N.

(2001). Testing Multiregionality of Modern Human Origins. Molecular Biology and Evolution).

To explore how this is possible one must understand the process of Natural selection.

Natural Selection occurs, when a species is able to survive their environment, because

they possess a trait that is more is more favorable, and have a higher production rate. One

example of how natural selection works in nature are insects. Many insects are able to endure

insecticides that farmers use. The insects that are able to survive these insecticides go on to

reproduce passing down there favorable traits to new insects, until the farmer finds a new

Page | 2
 Jensen

insecticide causing Natural Selection to favor a new favorable traits. (Futuyma, D. (2004).

Natural Selection. ActionBioscience.org.)

This ties into the regional Continuity Model Multi Evolution, because many hominins

could have evolved into humans and with different characteristics that gave them the advantage

in their environments. For example some humans may have been shorter and stockier to support

colder climates, compared to other humans who are taller and leaner to support warmer climates.

The question where did the modern human being originate from is one that cannot be

answered by the regonal continuity model multi evolution model or the replacement theory with

out proofing the other wrong. One theory says humans orginated from Africa, and replaced other

hominds throughout the world, and the regonal continuity model multi evolution theory states

that humans did not appear just from Africa, but evovled through different times across the

world. The question boils down to did human evolution take place in multiple areas across the

world or did it happen in Africa and later branched out across the world?

I would argue that The Replacement theory is correct. The reason being is that humans

had to evovle to a point were they already had characterstics that make us who we are. With the

Replacement model, human beings could still experience the effects of Natural Selection,

passing down traits that are more favorable to survive certain envoirments and still interbreed

with other homonins.

We could also argue that from the time it took Neanderthals to show up on the fossil

record around 200000 years ago and from when they dispeared from the fossil record 30,000

years ago, compared to when the first humans appeared on the fossile record around 40,000

years ago in the European continent, that interbreed occurred, assimalting the Neanderthals into

Page | 3
 Jensen

the human race. There is a 10,000 year gap that humans and Neanderthals would have to

discover each other and interact. If Natural selection did occurre, more human characterstics

would be more dominate compared Neanderthals.

On the other side of this argument humans may have evolved around the same time of

Neanderthals in the same areas, but did not interbreed. For this theory to work humans would

have to evolve many of thousands of years after the Neanderthals. A counter to that argument is

that humans evovled in Africa and migrated to other places in other places in the world not just

Europe.

The first humans burial sites appeared in Australlia around 50000 years ago. (Mayell, H.

(2003). First Humans in Australia Dated to 50,000 years ago. The first humans discovered in

Australlia were discovered in 1969 around lake Mango. The Mango man and Mango lady were

to belived to be buried around 40,000 years ago. In 1999 scientist mitochrondrial DNA from the

bones of the Mango MAnd, and came to the conculsion that the Mango Man and Women were

over 60,000 years old.Many sceintist argue this fact the first humans appeared in Australlia more

than 60,000 years ago, but the fact remains we have gentic proof of humans appearing around

40,000 60,000 years ago.(Mayell, H. (2003). First Humans in Australia Dated to 50,000 years

ago. National Geographic, 2. )

Australian settlers would have appeared around 20,000 -10,000 years before the

European settlers. Which means that for the regional continuity theory to be correct humans

would have to evolve at different times across the world. This begs the question how long did it

take for the first human to evovle into the human species. Macro evolution can take more than a

hundered thousand years to occur for a new species to appear.

Page | 4
 Jensen

The time that humans to make their apperance across the world seems to short for

evolution to take its full effect. This is why the replacement theory makes more sense. As

humans travelled outide of Africa depending on where they migirated they adapted to their

enviroments, and interbreeding with other hominin creating different physical and bilogical

variations.

E portfolio

http://derekwjensen.weebly.com/

Works Cited
(Jurmain, R. Essentials of Physical Anthropology, Page 287-288)

(https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/migratory-crossings/)

Futuyma, D. (2004). Natural Selection. ActionBioscience.org.

Mayell, H. (2003). First Humans in Australia Dated to 50,000 years ago. National
Geographic, 2.

Sankararaman, S. (2012). The Date of Interbreeding between Neandertals and

Modern Humans. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002947, 1.

Sankararaman, S. (2012). The Date of Interbreeding bewteen Neanderrtals and

Modern Humans . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002947.

TakahataL, N. (2001). Testing Multiregionality of Modern Human Origins. Molecular

Biology and Evolution, 1.

Page | 5