Modern humans — Homo sapiens — are the only surviving species of the genus Homo. Despite our visible diversity, all living humans share a recent common evolutionary origin in Africa. This conclusion is supported by palaeoanthropology, archaeology, and population genetics.
The study of ancient fossils, archaeological cultures, and genetic markers — including mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome lineages, and genome-wide variation — has allowed scientists to reconstruct the major stages of human origins, migrations, and adaptation.
For readers of Science & Life, this is not only a story about the distant past. It is also a story about the unity of humankind, the movement of ancient populations, the power of scientific evidence and the danger of oversimplified racial myths.



