Climate effects on archaic human habitats and species successions

Axel Timmermann (), Kyung-Sook Yun, Pasquale Raia, Jiaoyang Ruan, Alessandro Mondanaro, Elke Zeller, Christoph Zollikofer, Marcia Ponce de León, Danielle Lemmon, Matteo Willeit and Andrey Ganopolski
Additional contact information
Axel Timmermann: Institute for Basic Science
Kyung-Sook Yun: Institute for Basic Science
Pasquale Raia: Università di Napoli Federico II, Monte Sant’Angelo
Jiaoyang Ruan: Institute for Basic Science
Alessandro Mondanaro: Università degli Studi di Firenze
Elke Zeller: Institute for Basic Science
Christoph Zollikofer: University of Zurich
Marcia Ponce de León: University of Zurich
Danielle Lemmon: Institute for Basic Science
Matteo Willeit: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Andrey Ganopolski: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Nature, 2022, vol. 604, issue 7906, 495-501

Abstract: Abstract It has long been believed that climate shifts during the last 2 million years had a pivotal role in the evolution of our genus Homo1–3. However, given the limited number of representative palaeo-climate datasets from regions of anthropological interest, it has remained challenging to quantify this linkage. Here, we use an unprecedented transient Pleistocene coupled general circulation model simulation in combination with an extensive compilation of fossil and archaeological records to study the spatiotemporal habitat suitability for five hominin species over the past 2 million years. We show that astronomically forced changes in temperature, rainfall and terrestrial net primary production had a major impact on the observed distributions of these species. During the Early Pleistocene, hominins settled primarily in environments with weak orbital-scale climate variability. This behaviour changed substantially after the mid-Pleistocene transition, when archaic humans became global wanderers who adapted to a wide range of spatial climatic gradients. Analysis of the simulated hominin habitat overlap from approximately 300–400 thousand years ago further suggests that antiphased climate disruptions in southern Africa and Eurasia contributed to the evolutionary transformation of Homo heidelbergensis populations into Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, respectively. Our robust numerical simulations of climate-induced habitat changes provide a framework to test hypotheses on our human origin.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04600-9

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