by: jb lim
I was writing and sharing my views in a WhatsApp chat telling we all first originated from Africa. But a friend of mine in the group who is an engineer disagreed with me because he told me his father was Chinese from China and not from Africa.
I did my postdoctoral on biological evolution from the University of Cambridge and in paleoanthropology it tells me the history of the emergence of human-like and humans took place millions of years (Mya) ago.
Briefly listed in point form below, human emergence were:
3.6 Mya: Panama Isthmus rise / Lucy fossil / Australopithecus afarensis footprints was found.
2.5 Mya: Tool use
1.8 Mya: Homo habilis came out of Africa
1.6 Mya: Homo erectus in Asia 600,000 years ago was found. Human / Neanderthal split.500,000 years ago.
Homo erectus use fire 355,000 years ago.
Homo heidelbergensis footprints 200,000 years ago was found.
Anatomically modern human 250,000 – 160,000 years ago was shown.
Homo sapiens arose 120,000 years ago. Homo language was made possible.
Modern humans (Homo sapiens) emerged from Africa around 300,000 to 200,000 years ago, in contrast to "Out of Africa" which refers to the migration of archaic humans from Africa to Eurasia from before 1.8 and up to 0.5 million years ago.
Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) from southern Ethiopia is the oldest anatomically modern Homo sapiens skeleton currently known (around 233,000 years old).
Others argued why then are the Chinese different from the Africans and other races, and other races different from each other.
Since I have also studied palaeoanthropology and ancient history of human existence before, Chinese civilization has a recorded history of only over 3,000 years ago with some claims extending to 5,000 years.
The earliest written records of the Chinese date back to the Shang Dynasty, around 1250-1046 BCE. Thus between the vast time span between 300,000 years ago and 3,000 years the human race under went several genetic changes into human diversity, including differences in physical traits and genetic makeup.
The different races arose primarily through natural selection and genetic drift as populations adapted to various environments. As humans migrated and settled in different regions, they encountered different environmental pressures, such as climate and disease, leading to the development of unique adaptations over time due to natural selection. Natural selection favors traits that enhance survival and reproduction in a particular environment.
For instance, darker skin pigmentation evolved in populations living in areas with high sun exposure, while lighter skin pigmentation developed in regions with less sunlight. This explains why there are so many races in this world if we all originated from Africa or from Adam and Eve
After humans migrated out of Africa, they settled in different parts of the world, from freezing tundras to tropical forests, from high mountains to island archipelagos. Over tens of thousands of years, these isolated populations adapted to their environments in a process driven by Natural Selection
Evolutionary pressures in different environments led to the selection of traits that increased chances of survival and reproduction such as:
Skin Color - Lighter skin allowed better synthesis of vitamin D in low-UV areas like Europe and Northern Asia. Over time, this trait was favored in colder, cloudier regions.
Dark skin contains more melanin, which protects against the sun’s UV radiation. This trait was advantageous in equatorial Africa and other high-UV regions.
Body Shape and Size (Bergmann’s & Allen’s Rules):
In colder climates, shorter, stockier bodies retain heat (e.g., Inuit people).
In hotter climates, longer limbs and leaner bodies dissipate heat better (e.g., Nilotic peoples of East Africa).
Facial Features:
Epicanthic folds, flatter noses, and other features in East Asian populations may relate to cold adaptation or protection from sun glare and dust.
Nasal shape varies with humidity and temperature: narrow noses help humidify dry air (e.g., in deserts), while broad noses are better for hot, humid environments.
In Evolution there is also what we call Genetic Drift. This means, in small populations, random changes in gene frequencies can lead to significant differences over time, independent of environmental selection. This is especially evident in isolated populations (e.g., Pacific Islanders, Andamanese)
In our study on Evolution we have this thing called Founder effects (e.g., the small groups who first settled Europe or East Asia) as well as mutation and gene flow:
Mutations occasionally occurs when new genetic variants arise that may spread through a population.
Gene Flow is when different populations intermingle, their genes mix. For instance, non-Africans today have 1–2% Neanderthal DNA, showing interbreeding after humans left Africa.
Cultural and Reproductive Isolation:
Cultural preferences and geographic separation often led to endogamy (marrying within the group), reinforcing particular genetic traits over generations.
What about if we were from Adam and Eve?
If we take a spiritual view, as seen in Abrahamic religions, all humans are descended from a single pair: Adam and Eve. From a genetic standpoint, there’s a fascinating concept called “Mitochondrial Eve” and “Y-chromosomal Adam”:
Mitochondrial Eve: A woman who lived in Africa around 150,000 to 200,000 years ago, from whom all living humans’ mitochondrial DNA is descended.
Y-chromosomal Adam: A male ancestor who lived perhaps 60,000 to 200,000 years ago, from whom all Y-chromosome lineages are descended.
These two individuals didn’t necessarily live at the same time or place, but their genetic lineages survived while others did not.
Back to Chinese Civilization vs. Human History
My Chinese friend may be correct about his family’s Chinese ancestry tracing back thousands of years, but this refers only to cultural and ethnic identity, not species origin.
Chinese civilization as I note, goes back ~3,000 to 5,000 years, with written records from the Shang Dynasty (~1250 BCE).
But modern humans (Homo sapiens) had arrived in East Asia by 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, and archaeological findings in China (e.g., Zhoukoudian, Dali skull, etc.) support this.
Thus, while our family heritage is indeed Chinese, his deep ancestry - like yours, mine, and everyone else began in Africa.
Why So Many Races?
“Race” is not a strict biological concept, it’s a social construct based on visible traits (like skin color, hair texture, and facial features). Genetically, all humans are 99.9% identical.
The visible diversity we see today emerged from relatively small genetic differences shaped over thousands of years of environmental adaptation, genetic drift, and cultural separation.
One Human Family:
No matter how different we may appear on the outside, we are all part of a single human species, with a shared origin and a deeply interconnected past.
In essence, "we are leaves on different branches of the same ancient tree whose roots lie deep in the African soil."
It’s not uncommon for people to deeply identify with their ethnic or cultural heritage, like being Chinese, Malay, Indian, Arab, or European, and to associate their ancestry only within that historical framework. The idea that all of us, regardless of race or culture, originated from ancient Africans tens of thousands of years ago can feel distant or abstract compared to the more immediate and tangible story of one's family, village, or nation.
But identity works at different layers:
A person can be proudly be a Chinese or a Chinese Malaysian in culture and practice like myself - and even a Hainanese Chinese from Hainan Island in China where my parents came to Malaya, but his lineage going back thousands of years in East Asia…while still being part of the greater human journey that began in Africa over 200,000 years ago.
No one is saying our ancestors weren’t from China. They absolutely were, for thousands of years! But if we trace our family tree back not just 100 generations, but 10,000 generations, we’ll find that we all meet somewhere in Africa. That's the amazing unity of humanity: many branches, one root."
It's also humbling to realize that Chinese, Indian, African, and European civilizations are young compared to the age of our species, just the latest chapters in an incredibly ancient book.
I hope I am able to explain our very origin to everyone - not just to my friend who disagreed with me we originated from Africa because he told me his father came from China - for that matter my parents too came from China.
If it helps, below is a simple and migration map from Africa to East Asia, or share brief genetic evidence that has confirmed this shared origin, especially findings from studies like the 1000 Genomes Project or HapMap.
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