• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Sunday, September 28, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Springs were critical water sources for early humans in East Africa, Rutgers study finds

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 30, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: Gail M. Ashley, Rutgers University

About 1 to 2 million years ago, early humans in East Africa periodically faced very dry conditions, with little or no water in sight. But they likely had access to hundreds of springs that lingered despite long dry spells, allowing our ancestors to head north and out of Africa, according to a groundbreaking study by scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and other institutions.

The international team showed that climate may not play such a primary role in human evolution as is commonly asserted.

"This has very important implications for human evolution," said Gail M. Ashley, a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers. "We're not saying anything about why early humans left Africa. We're only saying it was possible to leave Africa by going from one spring to the next and they could travel during dry periods."

The study, which focuses on the key role of "hydro-refugia," or water refuges, in East African hominin (early human) evolution and dispersal, was published today in the online journal Nature Communications. Hydro-refugia, a new term coined by the scientists, include springs, wetlands, groundwater-fed perennial streams and groundwater-fed rivers.

The study has global relevance since drylands cover about 45 percent of the Earth's land mass. The importance of groundwater for the survival of our hominin ancestors during dramatic climate swings could inspire and inform strategies for human resilience to future climate change, the study says.

For several million years, the African climate has fluctuated between wet and dry in 23,000-year cycles. And since most lakes are undrinkable (saline or alkaline) and rivers dry up for large parts of the year in East Africa, where early humans arose, the study focused on the viability of groundwater-fed springs.

Rainwater is stored in large underground aquifers and moves slowly until it seeps out onto the surface as springs. The location of groundwater-fed springs is controlled by geology and the groundwater supply is buffered against climate change, according to Ashley, a geologist whose curiosity about springs prompted the study.

The study area is vast – nearly 2.1 million square kilometers (some 808,000 square miles), stretching from northern Tanzania to Ethiopia and focusing on the East African Rift Valley. And the scientists performed hydrogeological modeling of the current landscape. A spring that discharges 1,000 cubic meters of water (about 264,000 gallons) a year was deemed productive enough to maintain continuous flow.

"I'm absolutely amazed how in some places, it looks like a trickle of water is coming out and yet it will supply hundreds of animals a day," said Ashley, who has conducted research in the region since 1994 and has studied many springs.

Using today's distribution of lakes, rivers and springs sprinkled along the valley from northern Tanzania to Ethiopia, a computer study was performed to see if it would have been possible for humans to walk from one water source to another and survive. The study assumed that a person could walk up to 180 kilometers, or about 112 miles, in three days.

"In some places, people could not migrate and they would have stayed at one spring for quite a long time until it got wetter again, and then more springs would open up and they could continue to move," Ashley said.

People have always assumed that climate was the main factor in human migration and human evolution, she said.

"Climate fluctuated, but the geology allowed the development and maintenance of springs – hydro-refugia – on the landscape, allowing humans to disperse and migrate out of Africa," she said. "The bigger question is what motivated humans to move up the East African Rift Valley. We know they did and we have shown how it was possible, but we don't really have a logical reason for them doing that."

###

The lead author of the study is Mark O. Cuthbert of Cardiff University in Cardiff, UK. Other authors include Thomas Gleeson of the University of Victoria in Victoria, Canada; Sally Reynolds, Matthew Bennett and Adrian C. Newton of Bournemouth University in Poole, UK; and Cormac McCormack of the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, UK.

Media Contact

Todd B. Bates
[email protected]
848-932-0550
@RutgersU

http://www.rutgers.edu

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Nurses and Patients’ Views on ACS Treatment Adherence

September 28, 2025

Streptococcus anginosus Found Across Female Urogenital Sites

September 28, 2025

miR-423-5p Modulates Oncogenic Metabolism in HCC

September 28, 2025

Combination Inhaler Cuts Childhood Asthma Attacks by Nearly 50%

September 28, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    83 shares
    Share 33 Tweet 21
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Scientists Discover and Synthesize Active Compound in Magic Mushrooms Again

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • Tailored Gene-Editing Technology Emerges as a Promising Treatment for Fatal Pediatric Diseases

    51 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Nurses and Patients’ Views on ACS Treatment Adherence

Streptococcus anginosus Found Across Female Urogenital Sites

miR-423-5p Modulates Oncogenic Metabolism in HCC

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.