tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355052.post7293832494113376829..comments2024-03-28T09:52:15.415-04:00Comments on Common Denominator: Gen Eds 11: The First HumansKen Schenckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09745548537303356655noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355052.post-75098775850334661952017-06-23T17:04:08.558-04:002017-06-23T17:04:08.558-04:00The field of human origins is changing so swiftly ...The field of human origins is changing so swiftly that anything in book form is woefully out of date. The split between the lineages leading to modern chimpanzees and modern humans probably took place over many generations and many tens of thousands of years; it would be impossible to trace it back to any specific individuals.<br /><br />The out-of-Africa migration between 50 and 70 thousand years ago is only ancestral to non-sub-Saharan Africans. The history within Africa is much more complex and very poorly understood. The out-of-Africa migration also mixed with Neanderthals and an even less understood group called Denisovans, leaving a few percent of DNA from each.<br /><br />When our lineage acquired behavioral modernity (that is, became essentially human) is an extremely contentious topic, especially since it had to have happened long enough ago to account for the essential similarity between Africans and non-Africans. That rules out anything that happened after the out-of-Africa migration.John Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01486140062611850030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355052.post-31981683691896256902017-06-21T17:54:49.528-04:002017-06-21T17:54:49.528-04:00An ambitious project, but well done. Thanks.An ambitious project, but well done. Thanks.Martin LaBarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355052.post-27961383782735058542017-06-21T17:08:15.594-04:002017-06-21T17:08:15.594-04:00Thanks for the clarification!Thanks for the clarification!Ken Schenckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09745548537303356655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355052.post-35907414426915145742017-06-21T16:47:20.791-04:002017-06-21T16:47:20.791-04:00"According to the current theory, a female ap...<br />"According to the current theory, a female ape had two daughters 6 million years ago. One would become the progenitor of all chimpanzees The other would become the mother of all humanity."<br /><br />Kinda-sorta, but confusing. At some point no later that that, there was a female who was direct ancestor in the maternal line to both chimps and humans, but her daughters and many other individuals living at the same time would also have been ancestors of both.<br />We are also the descendants of countless females whose line ended only in sons.<br /><br />Jennifer Brienhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03363544942947399154noreply@blogger.com