"Neanderthals left Africa 500,000 years later into Europe while Denisovans left at the same time" For most of the past 25 years there was a theory that Neander

"Neanderthals left Africa 500,000 years later into Europe while Denisovans left at the same time" For most of the past 25 years there was a theory that Neanderthals and Denisovans were descended from Homo Heidelbergensis, in which case Neanderthals and Denisovans probably evolved in Europe or the Middle East. The oldest known Homo Heidelbergensis is maybe 1 millions years old and most of the early Homo Heidelbergensis were found in Europe, so it is assumed that Homo Heidelbergensis evolved in Europe. Recently, many have argued that Neanderthals and Denisovans were not descended from Homo Heidelbergensis, but instead from some other species of humans that has not yet been discovered. But it remains likely that Neanderthals and Denisovans evolved outside of Africa.