Humans are now known to have inhabited rainforests far earlier than previously believed, thanks to groundbreaking research led by Professor Eleanor Scerri from the University of Malta.

For years, rainforests were viewed as natural barriers to human habitation, but Scerri and her team have challenged this assumption, revealing that humans were living in Africa’s rainforests at least 150,000 years ago.

The research, published in Nature, focused on a site in present-day Côte d’Ivoire. This study pushes back the timeline of human habitation in rainforests by over 130,000 years, a significant leap from the previous understanding that humans only began living in such environments around 18,000 years ago.

Scerri, a senior author of the study and leader of the Human Palaeosystems research group, emphasised that the findings suggest human evolution unfolded across a diverse range of habitats, including dense rainforests.

By employing cutting-edge dating techniques and analysing pollen and plant remains, the team confirmed that the region was a heavily wooded rainforest.

Their research now rewrites the history of human ecological adaptation, offering valuable new insights into the environmental contexts of our early ancestors’ lives.

This discovery also opens the door to further exploration of other potential rainforest sites across Africa.

#MaltaDaily