Population collapse almost wiped out human ancestors, say scientists

Early human ancestors came close to eradication in a severe evolutionary bottleneck between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, according to scientists. A genomics analysis of more than 3,000 living people suggested that our ancestors’ total population plummeted to about 1,280 breeding individuals for about 117,000 years. Scientists believe that an extreme climate event could have led to the bottleneck that came close to wiping out our ancestral line. “The numbers that emerge from our study correspond to those of species that are currently at risk of extinction,” said Prof Giorgio Manzi, an anthropologist at Sapienza University of Rome and a senior author of the research.

tips

eradication 灭绝；连根拔除

eradicate 根除；消灭（e- 离开，radic- = root，根）

bottleneck 瓶颈

genomic 基因学

plummet 垂直落下（plumb- = lead，铅）

breed 品种；v 养育；繁殖；饲养；这里是指繁殖的个体

individual 个体

anthropology 人类学（anthropo- = human，人类）