Human evolution: savannah theory fading (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, February 28, 2025, 11:36 (6 days ago) @ David Turell

Savannah theory fading

dhw: Probably my fault, but I find all this a bit confusing. Does “humans” in the first quote mean different homos or just sapiens? The second quote suggests mating between different forms of humans led eventually to sapiens, and rainforests were only one type of habitat where they mixed. I don’t know how this solves the problem of sapiens’ origin. Or why it should disqualify the savannah theory. Maybe sapiens originated in the savannah and spread his seed in other environments, including back in the trees from which he descended. But I’m only asking for clarification of the statements made in this article. Did sapiens evolve from different homos mating, or did “readymade” sapiens mate with different homos?

DAVID: The 300,000 years ago proviso tells us this discussion is about sapiens. But it roughly covers intermating with Neaderthals and Denisovans.

In that case, it tells us nothing about the origin of sapiens. So how does intermating come to mean the savannah theory is fading?