Comments on: Ancestors along the highway http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:07:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Don’t stare at dead things or animals having sex. | Dangerous Intersection http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/#comment-31424 Don’t stare at dead things or animals having sex. | Dangerous Intersection Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:57:23 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1429#comment-31424 [...] to a widespread reluctance to consider the undeniable fact that humans are animals. See here and here and here and here and here and [...] [...] to a widespread reluctance to consider the undeniable fact that humans are animals. See here and here and here and here and here and [...]

]]> By: Erich Vieth http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/#comment-14207 Erich Vieth Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:55:46 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1429#comment-14207 I was thinking more about these ancestors along the highway. I forgot to take into account that our smaller pre-human ancestors likely had shorter lifespans than modern humans. Therefore, you might have to drive longer than 3,700 miles to get to our shrewlike ancestors. I was thinking more about these ancestors along the highway. I forgot to take into account that our smaller pre-human ancestors likely had shorter lifespans than modern humans. Therefore, you might have to drive longer than 3,700 miles to get to our shrewlike ancestors.

]]> By: Ben http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/#comment-13394 Ben Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:40:21 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1429#comment-13394 "Lineages do not have descent through single individuals or pairs in any evolutionary explanation. It's always populations. Humans arose as descendants of a group of our ancestors who also apparently maintained a loose and slowly weakening genetic contact with the root stock and closely related primates — there was a gradual separation of the lineage over time and embodied in many individuals." http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/silly_and_naive.php? “Lineages do not have descent through single individuals or pairs in any evolutionary explanation. It’s always populations. Humans arose as descendants of a group of our ancestors who also apparently maintained a loose and slowly weakening genetic contact with the root stock and closely related primates — there was a gradual separation of the lineage over time and embodied in many individuals.”

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/silly_and_naive.php?

]]> By: Ben http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/#comment-13244 Ben Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:28:57 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1429#comment-13244 Tim, Europeans and Americans have African Genes too. All of them. Even you. Even Jesus <blockquote>"Mitochondrial Eve (mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman who is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for all living humans. Passed down from mothers to offspring for over a hundred thousand years, her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is now found in all living humans: every mtDNA in every living person is derived from hers. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of the Y-chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor. She is believed to have lived about 140,000 years ago in what is now Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania. The time she lived is calculated based on the molecular clock technique of correlating elapsed time with observed genetic drift. Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent common ancestor of all humans via the mitochondrial DNA pathway, not the unqualified MRCA of all humanity. All living humans can trace their ancestry back to the MRCA via at least one of their parents, but Mitochondrial Eve can only be reached via the maternal line. Therefore, she necessarily lived much longer ago than the MRCA of all humanity. The existence of Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam does not imply the existence of population bottleneck or first couple. They co-existed with a large human population. Some of these contemporaries have no living descendants today, and others are ancestors of all people alive today. No contemporary of Mitochondrial Eve is an ancestor of only a subset of people alive today, because she lived much longer ago than the identical ancestors point.</blockquote> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve Tim, Europeans and Americans have African Genes too. All of them. Even you. Even Jesus

“Mitochondrial Eve (mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman who is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for all living humans. Passed down from mothers to offspring for over a hundred thousand years, her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is now found in all living humans: every mtDNA in every living person is derived from hers. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of the Y-chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor.

She is believed to have lived about 140,000 years ago in what is now Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania. The time she lived is calculated based on the molecular clock technique of correlating elapsed time with observed genetic drift.

Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent common ancestor of all humans via the mitochondrial DNA pathway, not the unqualified MRCA of all humanity. All living humans can trace their ancestry back to the MRCA via at least one of their parents, but Mitochondrial Eve can only be reached via the maternal line. Therefore, she necessarily lived much longer ago than the MRCA of all humanity.

The existence of Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam does not imply the existence of population bottleneck or first couple. They co-existed with a large human population. Some of these contemporaries have no living descendants today, and others are ancestors of all people alive today. No contemporary of Mitochondrial Eve is an ancestor of only a subset of people alive today, because she lived much longer ago than the identical ancestors point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

]]> By: Tim Hogan http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/#comment-13242 Tim Hogan Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:40:23 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1429#comment-13242 Many Mediterraneans have African genes. The Carthaginians (based in modern day Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) vied with Rome for supremacy of the area for centuries until wiped out by vindictive Romans, which remained there for centuries. The Ptolomies, part of Alexander's army, took over and ruled Egypt until the death of Cleopatra, an African. The Phoenecians plied the entire area and traded and likely intermarried with peoples all over the shores of the sea, including Italy and Africa. If your Italian friend has Sicilian blood, I remember the line from Patton where the General tells us that Sicily one of the most conquered places in the world. As each army passed through, some remnant of its passage might remain in the local gene pool. At our core, we are all related, and if we embrace our relatedness maybe we can be more at peace. Many Mediterraneans have African genes. The Carthaginians (based in modern day Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) vied with Rome for supremacy of the area for centuries until wiped out by vindictive Romans, which remained there for centuries. The Ptolomies, part of Alexander’s army, took over and ruled Egypt until the death of Cleopatra, an African. The Phoenecians plied the entire area and traded and likely intermarried with peoples all over the shores of the sea, including Italy and Africa.

If your Italian friend has Sicilian blood, I remember the line from Patton where the General tells us that Sicily one of the most conquered places in the world. As each army passed through, some remnant of its passage might remain in the local gene pool.

At our core, we are all related, and if we embrace our relatedness maybe we can be more at peace.

]]> By: Ben http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/30/ancestors-along-the-highway/#comment-13231 Ben Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:17:56 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1429#comment-13231 One of my friends paid to have the Geneology test done. She is Italian, looks just like any other Italian, in terms of skin color, well you know what I mean. She came up as 12 percent African genes. But it didn't actually change anything, did it? After all, it was just a cheek swab. Some of her close friends were kind of upset at the whole "idea", though. (Sorry if this offends anyone, bit of an embellishment) I think it is worth noting that some supposedly "enlightened" people (me included) still seemed to "worry" about how much "black" we have in us. One of my friends paid to have the Geneology test done. She is Italian, looks just like any other Italian, in terms of skin color, well you know what I mean. She came up as 12 percent African genes. But it didn’t actually change anything, did it? After all, it was just a cheek swab.

Some of her close friends were kind of upset at the whole “idea”, though. (Sorry if this offends anyone, bit of an embellishment) I think it is worth noting that some supposedly “enlightened” people (me included) still seemed to “worry” about how much “black” we have in us.

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