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Genetic 'Adam' and 'Eve' uncovered

By T.K. Randall
August 3, 2013 · Comment icon

72 comments

Image Credit: CC 2.0 David Berkowitz

Every human male alive today can trace his origins to a single man who lived over 135,000 years ago.

This genetic 'Adam' of the human race would have likely lived at around the same time as the genetic 'Eve', however it is unlikely that the two would have ever come in to contact with one another. The findings were based on the most thorough analysis of the male Y chromosome to date and serve to overturn the previous estimate which suggested man's common ancestor lived only 50,000 - 60,000 years ago.

In addition the research also offered clues to indicate the most likely geographical location of early humans. "It's very exciting," said geneticist Melissa Wilson Sayres. "We can start to understand exactly where we came from physically."

Almost every man alive can trace his origins to one man who lived about 135,000 years ago, new research suggests. And that ancient man likely shared the planet with the mother of all women.

Source: Fox News | Comments (72)

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#63 Posted by docyabut2 11 years ago

I'm not entirely sure I understand your question. If you mean are modern humans descended from multiple different hominids, then yes. By examining our genome we've found traces of where different lines hominids reentered the gene pool at points in the past, the most famous being Neanderthals. I think I understand;) so in tracing the DNA back to the 135,000 years, Adam may have come from one line of hommids and Eve from another.

#64 Posted by ShadowSot 11 years ago

I think I understand;) so in tracing the DNA back to the 135,000 years, Adam may have come from one line of hommids and Eve from another. No, both are modern homo sapiens. But in our genetic history, some of the different hominid lines got back into the gene pool for a short time. But that's a separate thing from the ada and eve talked about here.

#65 Posted by cormac mac airt 11 years ago

I think I understand;) so in tracing the DNA back to the 135,000 years, Adam may have come from one line of hommids and Eve from another. No, Y Chromosome Adam and Mitochondrial Eve were both Anatomically Modern Humans (Homo sapiens - Us). It just means that of the various paternal lines existing at the time of "Adam" that his line was the only line to continue to modern times, just like "Eve's" maternal line was the only line to continue to modern times. Neither one lived at the same time nor the same place as the other. cormac

#66 Posted by sepulchrave 11 years ago

Assuming I understand what cormac is saying; I think it can be paraphrased like this: Every man alive today is the ``son of a son of a son of a son of a son...'' going all the way back to Y Chromosome Adam. Every woman alive today is the ``daughter of a daughter of a daughter of a daughter...'' going all the way back to Mitochondrial Eve. Of course men are also the ``sons of a daughter of a son of a son...'' and the ``son of a daughter of a daughter of a son...'' (and other permutations), while women are also the ``daughter of a son of a daughter of a son...'' (etc.), but these parts of the fa... [More]

#67 Posted by cormac mac airt 11 years ago

#68 Posted by docyabut2 11 years ago

Let's take your sentences line by line and maybe that will help docyabut2: 1) Correct 2) Correct 3) Correct 4) While I would steer away from using the word "guarantee" the above is essentially correct. 5) Y Chromosome Adam and Mitochondrial Eve are the most recent common ancestor for us as a species (Homo sapiens). However the term can and is also applied at various other points as well. Using an example I belong to Mitochondrial haplogroup K and am more specifically K1a + 195. Otzi the Iceman, found in the Alps in 1991, belongs to K1ö (a designation made specifically for him as he falls unde... [More]

#69 Posted by docyabut2 11 years ago

For instance the Jave man live about 2,000,000 to 500,000 years ago, the Neanderthal about 70,000 to 40,000 years ago, Cro magnon 300,000 to 2,500 years ago .So did all homo sapians come from the Jave man?

#70 Posted by cormac mac airt 11 years ago

docyabut2: Totally confused. Apparently. where did the male and female ( Adam and Eve) of the first homo sapians come from? Was it of one line of a hommid or of many. Anatomically, Homo sapiens sapiens (Us) descend from Homo sapiens idaltu, who in turn descends from Homo sapiens which split off at about the same time as Homo neandertalensis from Homo heidelbergensis who descends from Homo erectus who descends from the Australopithicines. So descent was from a singular (one) line. For instance the Jave man live about 2,000,000 to 500,000 years ago, the Neanderthal about 70,000 to 40,000 years a... [More]

#71 Posted by docyabut2 11 years ago

docyabut2: Apparently. Anatomically, Homo sapiens sapiens (Us) descend from Homo sapiens idaltu, who in turn descends from Homo sapiens which split off at about the same time as Homo neandertalensis from Homo heidelbergensis who descends from Homo erectus who descends from the Australopithicines. So descent was from a singular (one) line. You've really got a mish-mash of names and timelines here, no wonder you're confused. Java Man is another name for Homo erectus. Neanderthals did NOT live from 70,000 to 40,000 BP, but from c.500,000 BP - 40,000 BP. Cro-magnon is a defunct name for us and obv... [More]

#72 Posted by cormac mac airt 11 years ago

So descent was from a singular (one) Your saying we homo sapians desended from the bipedal man homo erectus, but say homo sapiens did not come from Homo erectus (Java Man), at least not directly. So where`s the line ? At this point I really have to wonder if you're purposely being slow on the uptake, since I already listed the above. But here it goes again, from youngest to oldest: Homo sapiens sapiens Homo sapiens Idaltu Homo sapiens Homo heidelbergensis Homo erectus cormac

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