Posted on 05/22/2015 7:17:18 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Sci-Fi movies present no shortage of doomsday scenarios--asteroids, climate change and supervolcanoes just to name a few. But let’s say that one of these situations actually occurs, and humans are annihilated with the exception of one male and one female. Could humanity survive?
The answer is a resounding...maybe, with the only certainty being that the surviving couple is going to be very, very busy.
Variations on this scenario occur now and again in nature. They’re called bottlenecks, and they include any event that causes a drastic reduction in a population--think overhunting and natural disasters.
Certain species, like dandelions, are great at bouncing back from bottlenecks. Mow them down, and they’ll be back before you know it. “One dandelion seed in your yard produces thousands of dandelion seeds that are each genetically identical and spread exponentially,” explains Nolan Kane, a genomics professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. But humans are not dandelions; we require another human and about nine months to reproduce.
In bottleneck situations, Kane says limited options can cause serious problems. It’s called the founder effect. When a small group gets isolated from the general population, obscure and often harmful traits become common because the so-called founder population limits possible genetic combinations. We already see this in isolated populations such as the Amish of Pennsylvania, where high incidence of polydactyly (extra fingers or toes) is common. Similarly, on the Pacific island of Pingelap, as much as five percent of the population is colorblind.
So, if the sole surviving male has genetic Celiac disease, which prevents him from being able to eat gluten, it’s safe to assume that much of the new human race would be on a no-carb diet. Other heritable diseases such as sickle cell anemia could potentially ravage the new population.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
“CAN TWO PEOPLE REPOPULATE EARTH?”
Only if all of the lawyers are dead.
He did, but at that time, God had not declared that to be sin. God allowed it in the early stages of humanity with Adam's early descendents.
Wow, what sickos!
And yeah, I also learned something new today, so cool.
I have read the work of a credible geneticist where he said at the end of the last Ice Age there were fewer than 8000 homo sapiens left on the earth. I believe that is supportable science. Statistically that small number could repopulate the earth. Intelligence is the deciding factor and almost always will prevail.
Would be interesting to know how genetically divergent two people could be and still be unquestionably “human”, providing enough genetic diversity to avoid ill effects thru the first few generations.
A friend has 15 kids (and runs a family farm, and runs a retail business, and ...). Optimistically keep that up, and 2 become 5000+ in just 4 generations.
Of course, that requires a great survival infrastructure which, under the indicated circumstances, one may not plan on.
Sufficient genetic difference between parents would make that viable. Presumably Adam and Eve were as genetically different as conceivably possible and still be “human”.
No, 2 “people” can not repopulate the erf. A man and a woman can, though. Point being... the entire meaning of life... to sustain the species... there is a reason homosexuality is laughable, at the least.
If I were the last man on earth stuck with Lena Dunham...Sorry folks. That’s the end of us puny humans.
LOL!
Given the available resources - wood and metal in particular - repopulating the world after a catastrophe that wiped out people but left the infrastructure might be comparatively smooth. I think it would be easy to produce ten or more surviving children per couple in each generation, if the new Adam and Even had not gotten themselves snipped. That gives generations of:
1 - 10
2 - 50
3 - 250
4 - 1250
5 - 6,250
6 - 31,250
7 - 156,250
8 - 781,250
9 - 3,906,250
10 - 19,531,250
Essentially, after ten generations or about 300 years, the population would again pass 20 million. Genetic inbreeding issues would produce some unfortunate results, but I would expect natural selection (and informed marital choices by those prone to certain conditions) to limit the rate for those problems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzddAYYDZkk
“They would breed prodigiously, eh? There would be much time and little to do . . .”
“Presumably Adam and Eve were as genetically different as conceivably possible...”
How different could they have been since she was made from his rib?
Ya got me there.
Explains why humans are so dumb.
Prolific breeding is one thing.
Keeping all that progeny alive & viable is quite another.
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