Final answer:
The statement conveys that modern humans are the most recent version of the species Homo sapiens and have a common origin in Africa before expanding globally.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that "modern humans are only the most recent version of a single species, Homo sapiens" conveys the perspective that the diversity of the genus Homo declined at some point, and only Homo sapiens remained as the last surviving species. This suggests that Homo sapiens emerged first in Africa and then expanded out of Africa to replace all other human species. The statement implies that modern humans have a common origin and are geographically distributed worldwide as a result of this expansion.