When Human appeared on Earth 3,00,000 to 2,00,000 years ago in Africa , What kind of being was he/she/they ? Did they look like Africans , Europeans or Asians ? What colour they had ( Black or Brown ) ? What was their race ? Were they mixed ? They were living simultaneously with Neanderthals ? How they reacted to their presence ? How different were they from Us ( Modern Man ) in terms of Body ? Did they mated with neanderthals and other look like beings to create new human specie ?
THINK !
Very brief summary:
Original modern humans that evolved from australopithecus line of hominids (through homo habilis, homo erectus and other streams) had dark skin and were of african stock....probably very similar to the San (Bush people) of the Kalahari desert as I read somewhere these people have the most ancient mitochondrial markers.
Other hominids that split away from the homo sapiens lineage earlier (like neanderthals) also existed in various parts of the world through earlier migrations. When homo sapiens came across them, there was possibly a mix of conflict and interbreeding that caused these other hominids to die out because humans seem to have had better tool making capability and potentially greater endurance and survivability (thus helping their natural selection). So yes for a while it is very likely homo sapiens and neaderthals were living in the same areas similar to how both black bears and brown bears overlap in north america today.
The exact mixing of homo sapiens with neanderthals is still the subject of much debate and investigation today. More fossilised evidence is required to confirm the presence of 1st generation hybrids like those found in Spain....and then sequence exactly how much an average person's DNA originates from neanderthals and potentially other hominids.
Homo Sapiens could definitely be a mix of various hominids over time, we will have to see where the Science takes us!
Generally neanderthals were larger, more bulky than homo sapiens who were faster, more wiry and potentially more adaptable to environments because of their significant tool making expertise. Its not to say neanderthals were stupider or something (their brain volumes are roughly comparable to homo sapiens and sometimes even larger).....but it may have just been a sequence of lucky events over time that forced homo sapiens to get good at tool making when they were still in Africa whereas neanderthals because of earlier migration to Europe may have not had this "push" to do so to the same level.
Of course much study is still needed for more evidence to build upon the story of human pre-history and our origins. We know a small fraction of a percentage still about this subject and we definitely interpolate and extrapolate across many blank voids and accept its just a theory for time being because there is little other choice.
Frankly speaking , There are too many loop holes in creationist and Evolutionary Theories .
If nature created Human , Then same questions again apply . Plus the idea of one man and one woman is fallacious . How are they supposed to procreate ? How come in a span of 1000 years for which ancient humans ( As per religious texts ) lived , they were only able to produce a couple of kids ? Even if they were able to procreate , Wouldn't that make all of us Genetically ill ? At best there can be many men and Woman created at the same time *0*
Yes there wasnt one man that suddenly appeared (same with woman) but a gradual evolution of multiple hominid streams with potential cross breeding at different stages (according to scientific evidence)
Thus genetic diversity is ensured by this.
From one common source theory (a favourite of religion), you would get significant genetic problems....unless the sources are perfect genetically (or given help in genetic ways at certain times to pull up the overall average quality)....but the scientific evidence does not show anything like this so far and definitely not in the recent time frames such stories talk about.
I will bore you so will excuse myself. Just to state my point of view, the first human to come to earth were Hazrat Adam and Hawa and they did came in form of Humans. That is what Islam tells me and that is what i believe in.
