These days I am reading the book “Latest News on Human Evolution” [1] by Professor Giorgio Manzi, which narrates and comments on the latest discoveries about our terrestrial ancestors. Human evolution is a very interesting topic that I have recently rediscovered thanks to the books by Manzi [1][2], Barbujani [3], Brunelli [3], Diamond [5], and Harari [6], as well as some articles found online [4].

One of the aspects that struck me the most is the fact that in past epochs, various hominid species coexisted on Earth, and the one to which we belong, Homo sapiens, is just one among many. Moreover, it is the only surviving one, as all the others have become extinct.

When I was in school, history books presented human evolution as a linear succession of increasingly evolved human species, starting from primates with ape-like features and leading to Homo sapiens, passing through australopithecus, homo habilis, homo erectus, etc.

In reality, as Professor Manzi emphasizes, human evolution is not linear, but branched, more like a “branching tree” or a “bush,” as defined by the biologist and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. The following image is more accurate and highlights:

• the branched nature of evolution,
• the fact that all branches except one led to species that went extinct,
• and that going backward along the tree leads to a common ancestor.

This other image represents an estimated timeline of evolution and clearly shows how, in certain historical periods, different species coexisted on Earth and, although living in different areas, likely came into contact with each other. It is certain, for example, that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis met and even mated, despite belonging to two different species, so that today on average 2% of the DNA of non-African humans is shared with Neanderthals [9] [10].

This “coexistence” is now certain and documented. However, looking at the previous diagram, it is clear that this was not an isolated case; the overlaps between periods of existence are numerous.

I then wonder what the reaction of a certain hominid was when encountering another individual who was more or less similar but belonged to a different species. What feeling prevailed? Curiosity, fear, distrust, anger, aversion?

Some time ago, I watched an old documentary [12] about Neanderthals (a documentary so well made that clips from it are often featured in programs by Alberto Angela and Professor Barbero), and at minute 48 there is a meeting between a Neanderthal and a Sapiens.

Considering how much conflict there has been over the centuries and how much still persists to affirm equal rights among people of different origins and to overcome prejudices related to physical differences (primarily skin color) and cultural differences among people of the same species, ours, it seems difficult that peaceful coexistence existed in the past between different species.

Perhaps, however, the species that went extinct were more tolerant than ours, where curiosity prevailed over distrust and the desire to dominate and subjugate others. We will never know.

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Sources and References

• [1] Latest News on Human Evolution, Giorgio Manzi, Il Mulino.
• [2] The Great Story of Human Evolution by Giorgio Manzi, Il Mulino.
• [3] Around the World in Six Million Years, Il Mulino, Guido Barbujani and Andrea Brunelli.
• [4] An Overview of Primates, Lesson 1, Animal Biology Module, Unife.
• [5] The Timeline of Human Evolution, Focus.
• [6] Sapiens: From Animals to Gods, Yuval Noah Harari, Bompiani.
• [7] Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond.
• [8] Human Evolution on Wikipedia.
• [9] Hybridizations between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals were frequent even in Europe, Francesco Suman, Ilbolive.it.
• [10] Hybridizations Redraw the Tree of Human Evolution, Francesco Suman, Ilbolive.it.
• [11] The Great Story, Claudio Battaglino.
• [12] The Neanderthal Man. Documentary.

*** Note: This article was translated using an automated workflow created with n8n and OpenAI.