Population collapse almost wiped out human ancestors, say scientists

The skull of Homo heidelbergensis. Scientists speculate that the species could have arisen owing to the tiny population of human ancestor species. Photograph: Sabena Jane Blackbird/Alamy

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.