2019年10月28日，《自然》杂志在线发表了澳大利亚加文医学研究所Vanessa M. Hayes和韩国国立釜山大学Axel Timmermann等研究人员的最新发现，他们研究表明人类起源于非洲南部的古湿地，并发现了人类的第一次迁徙。

研究人员从当代南部非洲人那里获得了代表性差、根源最深的母源L0线粒体DNA分支资源（198个新的有丝分裂基因组，总计1217个有丝分裂基因组），并发现了非洲赞比西河以南L0d1'2、L0k以及L0g Khoe San后裔的地理隔离。

通过建立线粒体基因组的时间线、频率和扩散，研究人员表明，L0谱系出现在非洲南部残留的麦加迪卡迪-奥卡万戈古湿地内，大约200 ka（95％置信区间240-165 ka）。遗传差异表明L0谱系持续存在70000年，然后在130至110 ka的异地东北到西南方向扩散。

古气候代用资料和模型数据表明，湿度增加打开了绿色走廊，首先是东北，然后是西南。随后的家园干燥对应着持续有效的种群数量（L0k），而湿干循环和可能的海洋觅食适应使西南移民实现了人口增长（L0d1'2），这得到了广泛的东南沿海考古证据的支持。

综上所述，研究人员认为在解剖学上的现代人类起源于非洲南部，该人类具有持续的家园定居，然后才似乎是由区域气候变化所引起的人类第一次迁徙。

据了解，解剖学上现代人类起源于大约200千年前（ka）的非洲。尽管一些最古老的骨骼遗骸表明其起源于非洲东部，但非洲南部却是当代人口的家园，这些人口是人类遗传系统发育的最早分支。

附：英文原文

Title: Human origins in a southern African palaeo-wetland and first migrations

Author: Eva K. F. Chan, Axel Timmermann, Benedetta F. Baldi, Andy E. Moore, Ruth J. Lyons, Sun-Seon Lee, Anton M. F. Kalsbeek, Desiree C. Petersen, Hannes Rautenbach, Hagen E. A. Frtsch, M. S. Riana Bornman, Vanessa M. Hayes

Issue&Volume: 2019-10-28

Abstract: Anatomically modern humans originated in Africa around 200 thousand years ago (ka)1,2,3,4. Although some of the oldest skeletal remains suggest an eastern African origin2, southern Africa is home to contemporary populations that represent the earliest branch of human genetic phylogeny5,6. Here we generate, to our knowledge, the largest resource for the poorly represented and deepest-rooting maternal L0 mitochondrial DNA branch (198 new mitogenomes for a total of 1,217 mitogenomes) from contemporary southern Africans and show the geographical isolation of L0d1’2, L0k and L0g KhoeSan descendants south of the Zambezi river in Africa. By establishing mitogenomic timelines, frequencies and dispersals, we show that the L0 lineage emerged within the residual Makgadikgadi–Okavango palaeo-wetland of southern Africa7, approximately 200 ka (95% confidence interval, 240–165 ka). Genetic divergence points to a sustained 70,000-year-long existence of the L0 lineage before an out-of-homeland northeast–southwest dispersal between 130 and 110 ka. Palaeo-climate proxy and model data suggest that increased humidity opened green corridors, first to the northeast then to the southwest. Subsequent drying of the homeland corresponds to a sustained effective population size (L0k), whereas wet–dry cycles and probable adaptation to marine foraging allowed the southwestern migrants to achieve population growth (L0d1’2), as supported by extensive south-coastal archaeological evidence8,9,10. Taken together, we propose a southern African origin of anatomically modern humans with sustained homeland occupation before the first migrations of people that appear to have been driven by regional climate changes.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1714-1

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1714-1