When our species, Homo sapiens, emerged in Africa around 300,000 years ago, there were already several other types of human in existence in Africa and Eurasia. It was only during the later part of the last ice age, probably sometime after 40,000 years ago, that Homo sapiens became the sole surviving human species.
This course explores the diverse hominins that once shared the world with us. There were at least 7 or 8 other hominin species. Some were relatively large-bodied, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, but others were relatively small, such as Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis. Our knowledge and understanding of these various populations is based not only on fossil and archaeological remains, but also on genetic research. In fact, the Denisovans are still better known from their DNA rather than their skeletal remains. To what extent did any of these other humans interact with members of our species? Genetic data obtained from both ancient specimens and living people reveal that our ancestors interbred with at least a few of them.
Why did these various other human populations disappear? This remains a difficult question to answer even for the best known, the Neanderthals. What we do know is that many living people carry a genetic legacy from these other humans that still influences, both positively and negatively, their health and well-being.