![Neanderthal depiction](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a089a8_420f4f84a0a64b7fb208b37f9575f1f9~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/a089a8_420f4f84a0a64b7fb208b37f9575f1f9~mv2.jpg)
Some contextual around the first humans:
Around 200.000 years ago, Homo sapiens (from latin 'wise man'), or modern humans, started evolving in Africa.
Around 125.000 - 45.000 years ago, groups of Homo sapiens start moving out of Africa.
Around 50.000 - 30.000 years ago, Denisovan (an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic) hominins are found in south-central Russia.
45.000 years ago Homo sapiens reaches Europe.
40.000 years ago the Neanderthals become extinct. Last known sites are on the Iberian peninsula.
18.000 years ago - Homo floresiensis (an extinct species, most probably due to a disease, of small archaic human that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia) fosils are found dating from that time.
13.000 years ago modern humans are present near Clovis, New Mexico, but others may have preceded them.
Homo sapiens originally evolved in Africa. From there, initially they spread into the Near East but soon retreat back to Africa. Eventually they moved into southern Asia and split. Some would follow the coastline to Southeast Asia and others move into western Eurasia where they will meet other hominin species, the Neanderthals and Denisovans.
![Homo sapiens migration path](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a089a8_cdc3f782e94442c194ac2b8600bc1950~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_671,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/a089a8_cdc3f782e94442c194ac2b8600bc1950~mv2.jpg)
From following the coastline to Southeast Asia eventually they arrive in Australia, roughly about 50.000 years ago but could be as early as 60.000 years according to some sources.
From looking at the migration path we can see that the modern humans' ability to exploit the coastal environment was key through the southern coasts of Asia.
By the time humans reached Europe, Neanderthals were already there for about 250.000 years.
Do you know how Much Neanderthal DNA is in Modern Humans?
Beginning around 2005, genomic sequencing found evidence of Neanderthal DNA in modern humans, and we now know that the DNA of humans alive today is 1-4% Neanderthal. “This admixture was created roughly 200,000 years ago when the first humans moving out of Africa mated with Neanderthals in Europe, and that the exchange went both ways, with some human-Neanderthal offspring later returning to Africa," according to a study published in Cell.
Both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals shared a common ancestor called Homo heidelbergensis.
![Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans migration path](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a089a8_133a14ee359048f9822df47338a9e72a~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/a089a8_133a14ee359048f9822df47338a9e72a~mv2.jpg)
Beringia, a land bridge between Russia and Alaska, exposed when the sea levels dropped as a result of the Ice Age, allowed humans to reach the Americas from northeast Asia.
![Homo sapiens, Beringian migration](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a089a8_06562a25fdba48a28d8b3fe243e81400~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_625,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/a089a8_06562a25fdba48a28d8b3fe243e81400~mv2.png)
Finally all hominin species die out, except for Homo sapiens.
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