re: #126 wheat-dogg
An internet search suggests a minimum of 10,000, and ideally 40,000.
I don’t think it’s ever been conclusively proven (to the best of my knowledge) but in the Toba genetic bottleneck theory, it’s figured there were roughly 10,000 breeding pairs* of Homo sapiens left at that time, about 70,000 years ago. But there are problems with the theory, too, so take it with a pinch of salt.
*there may have been less - could have been as few as 1,000 breeding pairs.