Response to Comments made in a Letter by Guedes et al . on “ The Out of Africa

This is a response to the criticisms of our research in a letter by Guedes et al. As discussed in detail below, these criticisms are scientifically baseless and ultimately reflective of a misunderstanding of our empirical methodology, potential unfamiliarity with the statistical techniques that we employ, and a misinterpretation of our findings. Indeed, some of the arguments raised in the letter are so trivially and gravely erroneous that we have wondered whether the contents of the letter truly reflect the informed viewpoint of the scholars who have signed it.