Happy New Year! For a limited time only, access all online articles for free.

Out of Africa to Out of Arabia

Gene Expression
By Razib Khan
Dec 21, 2011 2:13 AMNov 20, 2019 12:35 AM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Dienekes and Greg Cochran have been talking about this possibility for a few years. But a combination of archaeological finds and the current unsettled nature of the human evolutionary genomics literature means that "Out of Arabia" is a real possibility (not laugh-out-loud crazy and weird). So I took the liberty of cooking up a new design for the RichardDawkins.net website. Science is about updating our prior assumptions, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. What I wonder: how would the population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia feel about replacing Ethiopia and Kenya in human evolution documentaries?Addendum: To be clear, this isn't to say I accept "Out of Arabia" for the origin of most modern humans, including within Africa. Rather, I think it's not a crazy idea anymore, especially in light of the weird results which imply that West Africans may be genetically closer to non-Africans than to Pygmies and San (and it would make more sense of older uniparental results which imply back-migration from Eurasia into Africa).

More From Discover
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2025 LabX Media Group