Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Study Shows Humans Are Evolving Faster Than Previously Thought
Guardian (UK) ^ | March 25, 2015 | Hannah Devlin

Posted on 03/25/2015 10:01:56 PM PDT by Steelfish

Study Shows Humans Are Evolving Faster Than Previously Thought

Hannah Devlin 25 March 2015 Humans are evolving more rapidly than previously thought, according to the largest ever genetics study of a single population.

Scientists reached the conclusion after showing that almost every man alive can trace his origins to one common male ancestor who lived about 250,000 years ago. The discovery that so-called “genetic Adam”, lived about 100,000 years more recently than previously understood suggests that humans must have been genetically diverging at a more rapid rate than thought.

Kári Stefánsson, of the company deCODE Genetics and senior author of the study, said: “It means we have evolved faster than we thought.”

The study also shows that the most recent common male ancestor was alive at around the same time as “mitochondrial Eve” - the last woman to whom all females alive today can trace their mitochondrial DNA.

Unlike their biblical counterparts, genetic Adam and Eve were by no means the only humans alive, and although they almost certainly never met, the latest estimate which gives a closer match between their dates makes more sense, according to the researchers.

When the overall population size is stable – as it has been for long periods in the past - men have, on average, just one son, and women, just one daughter. This means that for any given man, there is a high chance that his paternal line will eventually come to an end. This means any male descendants, for instance his daughter’s son, would have Y-chromosomes inherited from other men. If you travelled back far enough in time, the theory goes, there would be only one man whose paternal line extends unbroken to the present day: this man is Y-chromosome Adam.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: evolution; genetics; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; parsimoniousness
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-62 next last
To: Steelfish
Study Shows Humans Are Evolving Faster Than Previously Thought

Could've fooled me.

21 posted on 03/26/2015 12:48:33 AM PDT by VideoDoctor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish
I find the numbers confusing.

It's my understanding that fossil evidence for Homo Sapiens only dates back 200,000 years in Africa.

Yet the article talks about our “genetic Adam” being alive as much as 321,000 to 500,000 years ago.

Outside of Africa, it's my understanding that confirmed evidence of Homo Sapiens begins about 70,000 years ago.

And, in Israel and the Caucasus region, there is very recent evidence of Homo Sapiens that might go back 100,000 years ago.

22 posted on 03/26/2015 1:05:47 AM PDT by zeestephen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish

We aren’t evolving.

We are, however, DEvolving.


23 posted on 03/26/2015 1:56:52 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lee martell

I made a trip to Amsterdam a couple of years ago. One of the places that I hit on the city tour was the Rembrandt house. It came into existence around the 1630s. It’s an odd structure...ceilings are exceptionally low, and the doorwalls are a good six inches lower than what you are accustomed to. This came up in the tour conversation.

Oddly....people were shorter in this period. Since the 1800s....houses in Europe have had a higher ceiling and doorway. Reason? The only logical reason is that people are getting taller...through diet and changes in the body.

You can avoid the evolution of this...until you see the room and envision people are mostly all mostly a couple inches shorter than six foot on the normal scale. Then you start to ask questions. They did this without modern science, hormones or drugs.

My humble guess is that in 200 years...ceilings and doorways will be another couple of inches higher than today.


24 posted on 03/26/2015 2:01:41 AM PDT by pepsionice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Crim

And we had 8 sons and 1 daughter. Grandchildren are reverse - so far, 2 boys and 6 girls.


25 posted on 03/26/2015 2:12:27 AM PDT by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: NTHockey

Damn breeders.....mucking up settled science.....LOL


26 posted on 03/26/2015 2:19:08 AM PDT by Crim (Palin / West '16)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: NTHockey

PS all those birthday candles are warming the globe.

*cheesy grin*


27 posted on 03/26/2015 2:21:04 AM PDT by Crim (Palin / West '16)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: lee martell
They tell us that,
we lost our tails.
Evolving up,
from little snails.
I say it's all,
just wind in sails.

Are we not men?
We are DEVO.
Are we not men?
D. E. V. O.


28 posted on 03/26/2015 3:49:39 AM PDT by Rodamala
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish

Such colossal ignorance of the simple word “Evolution”—man is not becoming a new species. He is not “diverging”—these are meaningless words, hopeless twaddle. Man may be changing, as livestock a thousand years ago might look different yesterday than today. But a chicken is still a chicken and a cow is still a cow.


29 posted on 03/26/2015 3:52:56 AM PDT by Mamzelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jcon40
Yes we are a changing and I’m not thinking so much for the good.

Grasshoppers before the Winter.

30 posted on 03/26/2015 3:54:51 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (All that is required for evil to advance is for government to do "something")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: pepsionice
If you breed a dog to be smaller than its parent, you get a toy or a miniature. If you select a horse for its size and strength, you get a workhorse or a Clydesdale instead of a shetland pony.

You do know that they are still dogs, and still horses? Goats have been bred to lose their ears in the Alps, to grow ears like elephants in Africa. Coats have coats like cashmere, or have long curly locks like angoras (mohairs).

But these goats are still goats. Just because "selection" is by accident, doesn't make it evolution.

How sad, what schools are doing to people. Causing them to devolve into heartbreaking ignorance...

31 posted on 03/26/2015 3:57:25 AM PDT by Mamzelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: zeestephen

Reread the article.


32 posted on 03/26/2015 4:10:54 AM PDT by TexasGator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish
Evolving to what?

Evolution does not necessarily mean improvement. Sometimes you get Pandas that can only eat Bamboo and Koalas stuck on Eucalyptus..

33 posted on 03/26/2015 4:32:17 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not A Matter of Opinion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish
Scientists reached the conclusion after showing that almost every man alive can trace his origins to one common male ancestor who lived about 250,000 years ago.

The unknown stud.

34 posted on 03/26/2015 5:19:04 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Crim

I don’t know.

My father had 4 sons and a daughter.

I have a son, he has 2 daughters. HIs wife can’t have any more children. Y-line at an end.

My sister has 2 sons and a daughter; but Y-line at an end.

One brother has a daughter. Y at an end.

One brother has 3 daughters, Y at an end.

one brother has a son. He just got out of high school last year. And he’s the last hope for another Y generation here.

What are the odds?


35 posted on 03/26/2015 6:04:43 AM PDT by chesley (Obama -- Muslim or dhimmi? And does it matter?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: zeestephen

There are fossils of members of the genus Homo going back much further than 200,000 years. When our species officially begins is a matter of opinion, but Homo sapiens was descended from earlier human species.


36 posted on 03/26/2015 6:28:18 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: chesley

There are 18 great-grandchildren alive of my paternal grandparents—12 boys and 6 girls. But only 3 of the boys carry my paternal grandfather’s Y-chromosome.


37 posted on 03/26/2015 6:29:40 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: chesley

There are 18 great-grandchildren alive of my paternal grandparents—12 boys and 6 girls. But only 3 of the boys carry my paternal grandfather’s Y-chromosome.


38 posted on 03/26/2015 6:29:40 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish

Keep re-establiching a new settled fact. That’s the ticket.


39 posted on 03/26/2015 6:39:51 AM PDT by Blue Collar Christian (Ready for Teddy. Cruz, that is. Texas conservative.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SoFloFreeper

We’re becoming poodles and corgis when Adam was a wolf -

ie, we’re LOSING genetic information with every generation.


40 posted on 03/26/2015 6:42:26 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-62 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson