title: Human Dispersal Out of Africa: A Lasting Debate.
abstract: Unraveling the first migrations of anatomically modern humans out of Africa has invoked great interest among researchers from a wide range of disciplines. Available fossil, archeological, and climatic data offer many hypotheses, and as such genetics, with the advent of genome-wide genotyping and sequencing techniques and an increase in the availability of ancient samples, offers another important tool for testing theories relating to our own history. In this review, we report the ongoing debates regarding how and when our ancestors left Africa, how many waves of dispersal there were and what geographical routes were taken. We explore the validity of each, using current genetic literature coupled with some of the key archeological findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Saioa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK; Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology (CoMPLEX), University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Dorp
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Garrett
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hellenthal
keywords: Anatomically modern humans; admixture; out of Africa model; waves of migration