Discover the 'birthplace' of modern people

The ancestors of modern humans appeared 200,000 years ago in northern Botswana before migrating to other parts of the world.

Africa is considered the cradle of modern Homo sapiens , but scientists have not been able to pinpoint exactly where our ancestors were born. A recent study conducted by the University of Sydney and Garvan Medical Research Institute, Australia seems to have helped us find the answer.

Researcher Vanessa Hayes learned how to create fire from the Khoesan people.(Photo: CNN).

The findings, published in Nature on Monday, show that the first modern humans appeared 200,000 years ago in the northern part of Botswana and parts of Namibia and Zimbabwe. Our ancestors lived and flourished for about 70,000 years in the region before climate change forced them to migrate out of Africa and eventually settled around the world.

The team said they took DNA samples from 200 Khoesans , the oldest people on Earth, still living in South Africa and Namibia today. They are thought to have the highest rates of haplogroup L0 monoclonal DNA , which is used to identify genetic populations.

"Mitochondrial DNA acts like a time map, accumulating changes over generations. Comparing complete DNA codes among different individuals can provide information about the degree of association between them, "explains researcher Vanessa Hayes.

The scientists then combined with archaeological data and geological records to create a genetic map that tracks the mitochondrial DNA group L0. The results showed that this mitochondrial DNA group lasted about 200,000 years, originating from a desert region south of the Zambezi River in Botswana, known as the Makgadikgadi-Okavango region , which used to be a huge lake with a large area. double the size of Lake Victoria today.

The team also looked at past climate change models to find out what motivated our ancestors to migrate out of Africa.

According to Axel Timmermann, co-author of the study, heavy rains due to climate change opened up "green corridors" to the northeast about 130,000 years ago and then to the southwest about 110,000 years ago. The rising humidity creates lush plant paths, leading modern humans to migrate from Botswana to other parts of the world.

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