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The first members of the genus Homo, represented by Homo habilis ("handy man") evolved in Africa 2.4 million years ago (not 2.0 million years ago as is commonly stated). The main habitat of Homo habilis was South and East Africa. Around 1.9 million years ago, a larger-brained, more resourceful species of human evolved in Africa, Homo ergaster ("working man"). It is believed that Homo ergaster may have been one of the first members of the genus Homo to cross the Sinai Peninsula into the Middle East and on into the far East and the borders of Europe. Quickly after leaving Africa, H. ergaster probably evolved into Homo erectus, and H. erectus is often accordingly called the first member of the genus Homo to leave Africa. Some scientists consider H. ergaster and H. erectus to be members of the same species.
The spreading of Homo from Africa is partially explained by an idea called the Sahara Pump Theory. According to the geological evidence, around 2.0 million years ago, the Sahara was a wetter place, and flora and fauna were common. It was not a practically uninhabitable desert as it is today. This would have given an incentive for human migrations to move north, eventually crossing the Sinai Peninsula into the Levant.
Homo erectus lived in China and Southeast Asia at least 1.7 million years ago, based on stone tool findings. Most scientists do not believe H. erectus had the ability to build rafts and sail the oceans, so its migration patterns and limited to land travel only. Other homonids, such as H. antecessor, other members of Homo that might be called cousins of H. erectus, made it to Europe between 0.9 and 1.2 million years ago, where their fossils have been found in Spain and Italy.
Modern human migrations began about 70,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens wandered into the Levant and modern Yemen. Europe was colonized by 50,000 years ago, Australia by 40,000 years ago, and East Asia by 30,000 years ago. The colonization of Australia is notable because Homo erectus was incapable of sailing across the sea to reach it. Humans made it into the Americas via the Bering land bridge, but the exact date is under dispute: it may have occurred 30,000 years ago, or as recently as 14,000 years ago.
Anthropolgists by the mid-20th century after World war II finally conclusively proved through the discovery of the fosil remains of a number of early Homonoid that man evolved in Africa. They were unable to reach agreement on any accepted theory on just which homonid migrated out of Africa, just when this occurred, and what path they took. DNA work at the turn of the 21st century has combined with the earlier anthropolgical work to provide new theories that seem to provide a coherent theory as to how man peopled the globe. Before a migration out of Africa was possible, however, humonoids needed to develop a mind capable of creating the technolgies (tools, clothing, ect.) necessary for such a migration. Here the intelectual leap early homonoid took was probably strongly related to language development. The impetus for the movement out of Africa is not known. It could have been climate change, over population, or other developments. The first homomoid to move out of Africa could have been Homo rhodesiensis, Rhodesian man who appeared about 0.8 million years ago. He has a strong resemblence to Homo heidelbergensis which peoples Western Asia and Europe as Neatherthals. Next Homo erectus evolved into Homo spaiens. Anthropolgists are not yet sure if the transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapien took place before the migration began or during the migration. The transition appears to have occurred about 120,000 years ago. DNA researchers believe that a remarakably small number of individuals were involved in these migrations. Some people believe that the first homonoids that moved out of Africa were related to the modern San people in southern Africa. There seems to have been an initial migrration that followed the coast of Asia and finally reached Indonesia and Australia. As this migration was a coastal one. This may have been explained by climate and resource availability. Virtually no physical evidence exists of this coastal migration in terms of tools and other remains. The evidence is purely genetic. The Australian aborigenes are the modern descendants of these peoples. The coastal migration out of Africa was followed by a second wave of Homo sapiens. They are believed to have headed north into central Asia. They did not move into Europe through Asia Minor. It is not clear just why. Perhaps the mega fauna of the great Eurasian plain attracted them. Some researchers speculate that the existing Neanderthal populations blocked their way east into Europre. This suggests that at the beginning of the their migration, Homo spaien may not yet have been technologically more advanced than Neanderthal. From central Asia Homo Sapiens split. It is after this split that modern races developed as climatic adaptations. Some gro
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