About 74,000 years ago, Toba in Sumatra produced an enormous eruption. Archaeological records in India and Africa show human occupation across the eruption, including flexible foraging in Ethiopia. The regional climate effects remain under study; a worldwide human population collapse caused by Toba is not established.
Annual surface temperature from CESM (T): a model estimate, not a direct observation of the past.
0 Ma: pre-industrial climate/CO₂; modern sea-level and O₂ references.
Glacial-interglacial cycles with 120m+ sea level swings. Homo sapiens spread from Africa across the globe, and most megafauna went extinct.
Annual model means · 0 Ma: pre-industrial
Mapped sample / window records · not abundance
0–2.5 Ma
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API records whose numeric ages miss the queried window are excluded from the map and counts, with exclusions retained in provenance.
Plate boundaries are a separate model comparison. Their reference frame differs from PALEOMAP terrain and coordinates; coastlines may not align.
· 0 Ma
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