Homo sapiens : the orphan species

Towards the end of the Middle Pleistocene (780,000 to 128,000 BC), a human form with a large brain appeared in Africa, at the origin of all modern humanity, and can be attributed to the Homo sapiens species. It initially evolved within the continent, with occasional outflows to the Near East. Anatomically, the evolutionary process was gradual, culminating around 100,000 years ago in the emergence of forms close to those of today's humans. Behaviorally, it seems to be associated with the development of a set of lithic industries known as the Middle Stone Age. Over time, the Middle Stone Age showed increasing regional cultural differentiation and, in its final forms, signs of growing social complexity. Homo sapiens then spread out of Africa, first to the Middle East. Then, at least 70,000 years ago, he was found in the Far East, and by 60,000 years ago had reached Australia. In the mid-latitudes of Eurasia, it was already present around 45,000 years ago, from Eastern Europe to the Altai and Mongolia. During this geographic expansion, local archaic populations such as Neanderthals and Denisovans were replaced or partially absorbed. They seem to have completely disappeared shortly after 40,000 years BC. After reaching the high latitudes of Eurasia, humans penetrated Alaska from Siberia and later colonized the entire American continent. In regions never before inhabited by humans, the impact of hunting on the local fauna was considerable. At the end of this evolutionary process, and for the first time in the history of hominins, a single species populated all the habitable lands of the planet.