Some interesting findings were published in the May copy of the journal Nature, showing who were the world’s original travelers. Research has shown that it was in fact women, from two pre-human species that moved out of their birth homes and journeyed elsewhere to start families, most likely to prevent inbreeding.                          

An article appearing in ABC news explains that these conclusions had been drawn from studying 19 teeth, eight from Australopithecus africanus individuals, a species that is considered to be most likely an ancestor to humans from about 2.2 million years ago. The other 11 were from Paranthropus robustus individuals, a species that is not considered our direct ancestors from 1.8 million years ago. The differences in mineral variation between the male and female teeth have paleontologists believing that women were tasked with leaving the ‘family home’, whilst the men remained

It is the also the female chimpanzees, our closest living primate relative, that travel to mate and raise families. That’s in contrast to most other primates and most mammals where it is generally males that will leave their families.

In modern times it was only men that explored the New World, and yet now on the AUIP programs we will often have more females than males traveling, although most likely the purpose for travel has changed somewhat!