Were I to educate a neophyte, I would say that humans nearly went extinct, in an "evolution bottleneck" that left sub-saharan Africans as the only "true humans.

Were I to educate a neophyte, I would say that humans nearly went extinct, in an "evolution bottleneck" that left sub-saharan Africans as the only "true humans." Our species interbreeding with the neanderthals, denisovans, and perhaps other primates makes us human. The mix is important.