When is the "big migration" in Africa?

I have questions on the "Out of Africa Human Migration Model." Can anyone help?

• - I am familiar with the general idea asserted with the "Out of Africa Human Migration Model/Theory." It certainly is not infinitely complicated, but to paraphrase the major concept in extraordinarily simple terms for the purpose of my own education, I say that,... My understanding of the theory is essentially that the oldest human remains are found in East Africa, human beings first appeared in THAT area, and basically some of them migrated out of that region in several waves over a long period of time, and eventually populated Asia, Europe, Australia, and the America's. The theory sounds pretty solid to me, but what I do NOT understand, and what I have NOT been able to find out is,... 1. Where did the first migration/migrations go first? Meaning what general area did they settle first? Did the first migration/migrations settle in Asia, The Middle East, Oceania, Europe,....Where??? 2. Obviously, the Black racial phenotype was the first to appear on Earth. Which was second, third, and so on,... How did the original phenotype mutate into today's Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Australoid populations. Which phenotype was the first successor to the original African phenotype,... which was next, and so on,... and approximately when did these other phenotypes appear, and in what order??? If anyone knows,... I would GREATLY APPRECIATE any valid information on the subject, and if nothing else would anyone at least know where/how I could go about finding these answers? Does anyone have them? Any real help would be greatly appreciated,... THANK YOU!!!

• Answer:

  1. It does get a bit complicated when you use the term human. That could apply to all the hominids that are presumed to have left Africa since about 2 million years ago. I assume from the context, you are talking about modern humans so I will restrict it to that. The oldest non African modern humans were found in a site in Israel and were about 100.000 years old. Neanderthals were found near there and were much more recent so it is assumed that Neanderthals probably displaced them. The next migration is thought to have happened about 60,000 years ago but the dates are supported by genetic data because there are very few fossils of that age for modern humans outside of Africa. There are two assumed paths. One is through Israel and the other is across the Red Sea and across Arabia. Then they apparently occupied Asia. There is evidence of them reaching Australia about 50,000 years ago. It is assumed they started occupying Europe between 30,000 and 40000 years but the oldest solid evidence is about 30,000 years ago. Apparently it took them that long to adapt to the climate and ecosystems to outcompete the Neanderthals. 2. Black racial phenotype is not a precise way to state that so I am not sure what you mean exactly. Evolution didn't stop for Africans and they weren't the same as they are today. They were logically dark skinned but that is only a few genes. The rest of the genes would have continued to evolve like they did for the groups that left. It is thought that all the people who left Africa came from a small group of perhaps only a few hundred people. The current races or populations with regional differences gradually evolved. It would be arbitrary to say when any of them evolved and it would make more sense that they gradually diverged from the original population that left Africa..