Recent African origin of modern humans: In paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans is the mainstream model describing the origin and early dispersal of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens. The theory popularly is called the (Recent) Out-of-Africa model, and academically the recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH), Replacement Hypothesis, and Recent African Origin (RAO) model. The hypothesis that humans had originated in Africa was published in Charles Darwin's Descent of Man (1871). The concept was speculative until the 1980s, when it was corroborated by a study of present-day mitochondrial DNA, combined with evidence based on physical anthropology of archaic specimens.
- From National Geographic: Modern Humans Came Out of Africa, "Definitive" Study Says
- The Wiki Answer to: Are all humans originally from Africa?
