A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge have made a surprising discovery about the evolutionary history of our species. It turns out that the evolutionary model of Homo sapiens is significantly different from the development of other primates and even all mammals.
The results, published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, indicate that the rate of emergence of new human species was extremely high compared to other mammals. While most animals experience an initial increase in species numbers followed by stabilization and gradual extinction, the opposite was true for hominids.
"The pattern we see in many early hominids is similar to that in all other mammals. The rate of speciation increases, then stabilizes, and then the rate of extinction begins to increase. This suggests that interspecies competition was the main evolutionary factor," explains Dr. Laura van Holstein, lead author of the study.
However, the analysis of Homo sapiens yielded surprising results. Computer modeling has shown that increasing competition between human species has led to the emergence of more and more new species. This situation is unusual in mammalian evolution, but has been observed in beetle communities living on tropical islands.
According to scientists, there are currently 17 different species of hominids known, and in fact there could be even more. Researchers suggest that Homo sapiens appears to be able to surpass all of its relatives in mastering tools and technology. These skills allowed our ancestors to quickly occupy ecological niches to which other relatives did not have time to adapt, which led to their extinction.
"This discovery sheds new light on our evolutionary history and shows that the development of Homo sapiens differed significantly from the model observed in other mammals," concludes Dr. van Holstein.
The research results provide valuable information about the complexity and uniqueness of the evolutionary process of our species. Further research in this area may help to better understand what made Homo sapiens such a spectacular evolutionary success.
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