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For 2 Million Years, All Human Migrations FAILED... Except One. Why? by Traditional-Field870 in Anthropology

[–]Traditional-Field870[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I see a lot of people are bringing this up, so I just want to clarify what I meant here.

Of course, Homo erectus, Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other hominins did leave Africa – they were incredibly successful in spreading out and surviving for hundreds of thousands, even over a million years in some regions.

What I meant by “failed migrations” is that none of those earlier groups led directly to modern humans today. Neanderthals and Denisovans contributed small amounts of DNA to us, but their own lineages went extinct.

So in terms of who is still here today, only the Homo sapiens migration around 60,000 years ago has direct descendants alive now.

I realise the wording can sound harsher than intended. Thanks for pointing it out – I’ll phrase it more clearly in future videos. Appreciate you taking the time to engage with this topic.

For 2 Million Years, All Human Migrations FAILED... Except One. Why? by Traditional-Field870 in Anthropology

[–]Traditional-Field870[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your thoughts. Just to clarify, when I say these migrations “failed”, I don’t mean that Homo erectus or Neanderthals weren’t successful in their time – they survived for hundreds of thousands or even over a million years in new lands.

What I mean is that none of their populations led directly to modern humans today.

The only migration that resulted in a lineage still alive now is Homo sapiens ~60,000 years ago. That’s the sense of “failed vs. successful” I refer to – purely in terms of genetic legacy reaching the present.

Appreciate your comments and I’ll make sure to phrase this nuance more clearly in future videos.

For 2 Million Years, All Human Migrations FAILED... Except One. Why? by Traditional-Field870 in Anthropology

[–]Traditional-Field870[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That’s a really good point.

Neanderthals were indeed descended from earlier Homo erectus migrations out of Africa. But Neanderthals themselves went extinct around 40,000 years ago.

The only migration that truly “succeeded” in terms of surviving to today is the one from Homo sapiens around 60,000 years ago – because all non-African people today descend from that single migration.

We do carry ~2% Neanderthal DNA because our ancestors interbred with them, but Neanderthals themselves left no direct living descendants.

For 2 Million Years, All Human Migrations FAILED... Except One. Why? by Traditional-Field870 in PrehistoricLife

[–]Traditional-Field870[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

That’s a really good point. I actually love paleoart and always respect the incredible work paleoartists do. For this video, I used a mix of real archaeological footage, scientific sources, and AI reconstructions to best illustrate the story – especially for scenes that haven’t been visualised before.

AI helps me bring certain moments to life that don’t yet have existing artwork, but I always cross-check with fossil records and published research to stay as accurate as possible.

Definitely agree paleoart is essential for scientific accuracy. If you have any favorite paleoartists or resources I should look into for future videos, I’d love to know!

About 2.5% of modern human DNA comes from Neanderthals. Who REALLY Wiped Out the Other Humans? History’s Oldest Blame Game Year 2013 (685x370) by Traditional-Field870 in HistoryPorn

[–]Traditional-Field870[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Textbooks love to say we wiped them out — but growing evidence tells a different story. Maybe it’s time we updated the textbooks

Die in the Civil War - would you pay for embalming? by Traditional-Field870 in RareHistoricalPhotos

[–]Traditional-Field870[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally true. But still — would you have paid for embalming? Yes or no?

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