Around 900,000 years ago, the global population reached a precarious low of only 1280 reproducing individuals and stayed like this for 117,000 years, according to a study. Findings show that human ancestors in Africa were on the precipice of extinction, well before our species, Homo sapiens, emerged. Researchers analysed genetic information from 3154 present-day human genomes using a statistical method.

It showed that 98.7 per cent of human ancestors were lost, with the findings corroborated by the gap in the fossil record, which possibly led to the emergence of a new hominin species that was a common ancestor to modern humans and the Neanderthals. Though the exact cause of the sudden population drop is unknown, scientists posit that Africa’s climate is to blame for it.

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