Editing Pleistocene (section)

===Humans===
{{Main|Human evolution|Paleolithic|Settlement of the Americas}}

The [[human evolution|evolution]] of [[anatomically modern humans]] took place during the Pleistocene.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Rogers | first1 = A.R. | last2 = Jorde | first2 = L.B. | year = 1995 | title = Genetic evidence on modern human origins | journal = Human Biology | volume = 67 | issue = 1| pages = 1–36 |jstor=41465052 | pmid = 7721272 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wall | first1 = J.D. | last2 = Przeworski | first2 = M. | year = 2000 | title = When did the human population start increasing? | pmc =1461207 |pmid=10924481 | journal = [[Genetics (journal)|Genetics]] | volume = 155 | issue = 4| pages = 1865–1874 | doi = 10.1093/genetics/155.4.1865 }}</ref> At the beginning of the Pleistocene ''[[Paranthropus]]'' species were still present, as well as early human ancestors, but during the lower Palaeolithic they disappeared, and the only [[hominin]] species found in fossilic records is ''[[Homo erectus]]'' for much of the Pleistocene. [[Acheulean]] [[Lithic analysis|lithics]] appear along with ''Homo erectus'', some 1.8&nbsp;million years ago, replacing the more primitive [[Oldowan]] industry used by ''[[Australopithecus garhi]]'' and by the earliest species of ''Homo''. The [[Middle Paleolithic]] saw more varied speciation within ''Homo'', including the appearance of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' about 300,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hublin |first1=Jean-Jacques |last2=Ben-Ncer |first2=Abdelouahed |last3=Bailey |first3=Shara E. |last4=Freidline |first4=Sarah E. |last5=Neubauer |first5=Simon |last6=Skinner |first6=Matthew M. |last7=Bergmann |first7=Inga |last8=Le Cabec |first8=Adeline |last9=Benazzi |first9=Stefano |last10=Harvati |first10=Katerina |last11=Gunz |first11=Philipp |title=New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens |journal=Nature |date=8 June 2017 |volume=546 |issue=7657 |pages=289–292 |doi=10.1038/nature22336|pmid=28593953 |bibcode=2017Natur.546..289H |s2cid=256771372 |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/62267/1/Submission_288356_1_art_file_2637492_j96j1b.pdf }}</ref> Artifacts associated with [[Behavioral modernity|modern human behavior]] are unambiguously attested starting 40,000–50,000 years ago.<ref name="Klein 1995">{{cite journal |last= Klein |first= Richard |title= Anatomy, behavior, and modern human origins |journal= Journal of World Prehistory |date= 1995 |volume= 9 |issue= 2 |pages= 167–198 |doi= 10.1007/bf02221838|s2cid= 10402296 }}</ref>

According to mitochondrial timing techniques, [[anatomically modern humans|modern humans]] migrated from Africa after the [[Riss glaciation]] in the Middle Palaeolithic during the [[Eemian Stage]], spreading all over the ice-free world during the late Pleistocene.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cann | first1 = R.L. | last2 = Stoneking | first2 = M. | last3 = Wilson | first3 = A.C. | date = 1 January 1987 | title = Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution | journal = Nature | volume = 325 | issue = 6099 | pages = 31–36 | doi=10.1038/325031a0 | pmid=3025745| bibcode = 1987Natur.325...31C | s2cid = 4285418 }}</ref><ref>Stringer, C.B. (1992) "Evolution of early modern humans" ''In'': Jones, Steve; Martin, R. and Pilbeam, David R. (eds.) (1992) ''The Cambridge encyclopedia of human evolution'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, {{ISBN|0-521-32370-3}}, pp. 241–251.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Templeton, A. R. |date=7 March 2002 |url=http://www.bioguider.com/ebook/biology/pdf/Templeton_n2002.pdf |title=Out of Africa again and again |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=416 |pages=45–51 |doi=10.1038/416045a |pmid=11882887 |issue=6876 |bibcode=2002Natur.416...45T |s2cid=4397398 |access-date=17 November 2017 |archive-date=12 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412024836/http://www.bioguider.com/ebook/biology/pdf/Templeton_n2002.pdf  }}</ref> A 2005 study posits that humans in this migration interbred with [[archaic human]] forms already outside of Africa by the late Pleistocene, incorporating archaic human genetic material into the modern human gene pool.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Eswarana | first1 = Vinayak | last2 = Harpendingb | first2 = Henry | last3 = Rogers | first3 = Alan R | date = July 2005 | title = Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans | doi = 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.02.006 | journal = Journal of Human Evolution | volume = 49 | issue = 1| pages = 1–18 | pmid=15878780| bibcode = 2005JHumE..49....1E }}</ref>

{{Hominin species during Pleistocene}}