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Multiregional, not multiple origins
Author(s) -
Wolpoff Milford H.,
Hawks John,
Caspari Rachel
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(200005)112:1<129::aid-ajpa11>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - reticulate , human evolution , reticulate evolution , evolutionary biology , divergence (linguistics) , parallel evolution , population , pleistocene , adaptive evolution , biology , paleontology , phylogenetics , demography , sociology , genetics , linguistics , philosophy , gene
Multiregional evolution is a model to account for the pattern of human evolution in the Pleistocene. The underlying hypothesis is that a worldwide network of genic exchanges, between evolving human populations that continually divide and reticulate, provides a frame of population interconnections that allows both species‐wide evolutionary change and local distinctions and differentiation. “Multiregional” does not mean independent multiple origins, ancient divergence of modern populations, simultaneous appearance of adaptive characters in different regions, or parallel evolution. A valid understanding of multiregional evolution would go a long way toward reducing the modern human origins controversy. Am J Phys Anthropol 112:129–136, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.