REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili REUTERS/File PhotoAug 10 (Reuters) - Long before our species Homo sapiens trekked out of Africa, earlier human species also spread to other parts of the world. The frigid interval - comparable in intensity to the more recent ice ages - appears to have rendered Europe inhospitable for the bands of early human hunter-gatherers, as extreme glaciation deprived them of food resources. Fossils and stone tools indicate that Homo erectus established a foothold in Eurasia and later southern Europe relatively early in its history. The human species who subsequently colonized Europe proved more resilient amid persistent glacial conditions. "The study provides insights into the initial vulnerability of early human species to environmental changes and how eventually they adapted to increasing glacial climatic stress," Timmermann said.

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Persons: David Lordkipanidze, David Mdzinarishvili, Chris Stringer, Stringer, Axel Timmermann, Chronis Tzedakis, erectus, Homo, sapiens, Timmermann, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Georgian Academy of Sciences, REUTERS, David Mdzinarishvili REUTERS, Pusan National University, University College London, Thomson Locations: Dmanisi, Tbilisi, Africa, Europe, Spain, London, South Korea, Eurasia, Georgia, Italy, Germany, Washington