Will you believe me if I say our gut microbiome underwent a massive extinction during our evolution?

An interesting piece of literature exploring the gut microbiome diversity from the preserved 'paleofaeces' of the ancient population (lived 1000-2000 years ago) from what is now the South Western United States and Mexico. The study reports that nearly 40% of the microbial DNA sequenced are novel and doesn't belong to the gut microbiome of both modern industrial and non-industrial populations. The finding points to a large scale extinction in the gut flora sometime in the evolutionary history of modern humans. Although, the exact reasons that might have induced such a massive wipe out has not been clearly understood, it is assumed that any of the reasons from changing diet (natural to processed), antibiotics or even sanitation could be pertinent for the shift.

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