"Human populations have been in flux for tens of thousands of years since our emergence from Africa. The details of the still-developing picture are complex, but the overall theme is one of increasing homogenization since human diversity fell from the time when modern humans lived next door to Neanderthals, two strains of Denisovans, and the diminutive Homo floresiensis of Indonesia."
"Reich, a Harvard Medical School genetics professor, said that human diversity is lower today than it has been at any time in the past. "Today, we're very similar to each other. Even the most different people are at most maybe 200,000 years separated, with little gene flow," Reich said. "But 70,000 years ago, there were at least five groups far more different from each other than any groups living today.""
Advanced analysis of ancient DNA reveals pervasive migration, mixture, and population turnover across human history. Genetic material recovered from ancient remains documents multiple waves of movement that mixed and replaced earlier groups. Modern humans emerged from Africa and experienced long-term flux as they encountered Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other hominins. Overall genetic diversity has declined since earlier periods when several deeply divergent human groups coexisted. Present-day populations therefore reflect blended ancestries from successive migrations rather than long-term genetic isolation or purity of bloodlines.
Read at Harvard Gazette
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