In new PBS series 'Human,' anthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi explores how humans came to dominate Earth
Charts humanity's evolutionary odyssey. We sat down with her to discuss the path of our species out of Africa to global hegemony.
When Homo sapiens first emerged in Africa some 300,000 years ago, we did not roam the planet alone...
■ ] Our species lived alongside at least six, and possibly more:
other human species, from Homo erectus, the first hominin species to venture out of Africa; to Neanderthals and Denisovans, contenders for our closest relatives; --- } all the way to Homo floresiensis — less than 4-foot-tall (1.2 meters) "'hobbits"' who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores. Let alone other species like : non-hominin hominids such as : The Meganthropus...etc.
It's an origin story that Ella Al-Shamahi, a British Arab paleoanthropologist, presenter and explorer, often likens to the Lord of the Rings. Yet, despite its intriguing details, it's also one she says we don't talk about enough...
