‘Bizarre’ Finding Changes the Way We Think About Human Evolution

Human evolution

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A recent study suggests that human evolution may be more unconventional than previously assumed.

Climate changes

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While earlier beliefs attributed hominin evolution primarily to climate changes, new research from the University of Cambridge indicates that competition played a crucial role in shaping hominin evolution.

Evolutionary tree

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“We have been ignoring the way competition between species has shaped our own evolutionary tree,” said lead author Dr. Laura van Holstein, a University of Cambridge biological anthropologist from Clare College. “The effect of climate on hominin species is only part of the story.”

Phenomenon

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In the natural world, interspecies competition is a widespread phenomenon observed among various vertebrates.

Diversification

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When introduced to a new environment, there is a rapid diversification of species as they adapt to occupy specific ecological niches.

Intensifies

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However, once all available niches are occupied, competition among species intensifies, leading to a stabilization or plateauing of evolutionary progress.

Extinction

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“The pattern we see across many early hominins is similar to all other mammals,” van Holstein said. “Speciation rates increase and then flatline, at which point extinction rates start to increase. This suggests that interspecies competition was a major evolutionary factor.”

van Holstein

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Yet, as van Holstein delved into the evolution of the Homo genus, a distinct and intriguing pattern began to emerge.

More species

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“The more species of Homo there were, the higher the rate of speciation,” she said. “So when those niches got filled, something drove even more species to emerge. This is almost unparalleled in evolutionary science.”

Evolutionary patterns

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In essence, it seems that the competition among various Homo species played a significant role in propelling the evolution of additional Homo species—a stark departure from the typical evolutionary patterns observed in most other vertebrates.

Unique characteristics

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The question arises: why does our evolutionary lineage exhibit such unique characteristics?

Technology

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According to van Holstein, the anomaly in our evolutionary tree is likely linked to our utilization of technology.

Stone tools

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“Adoption of stone tools or fire, or intensive hunting techniques, are extremely flexible behaviors,” van Holstein said. “A species that can harness them can quickly carve out new niches, and doesn’t have to survive vast tracts of time while evolving new body plans.”

Fueling

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The capacity to utilize technology enabled our predecessors to engage in competition for territory and essential resources within various ecological niches, fueling their rapid evolutionary progress.

Homo sapiens

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This advanced tool utilization potentially played a crucial role in the emergence of Homo sapiens and the eventual demise of all other Homo species.

Competition

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“These results show that, although it has been conventionally ignored, competition played an important role in human evolution overall,” van Holstein said. “Perhaps most interestingly, in our own genus it played a role unlike that across any other vertebrate lineage known so far.”