> For a mutation to "kick in" as you put it, would it only be a one-time deal where the gene was sympathetic to the original species as far as being able to procreate, but would maintain the separate/different DNA lineage and breed true?
Not quite sure what you're asking. But for a mutation to serve a useful evolutionary purpose, it would have to be a mutation that would be passed down. And obviously it would be better if the mutation was actually beneficial. But it need not be beneficial. It coudl even be a mutation that objectively was Bad News. Like, say, when some distinct racial characteristic formed in early humans (take your pick... skin color, whatever). It could have been a mutation that did not help the individual survive agaisnt hte environment, but it might have made that individual more appealign to the opposite sex somehow. Who can say.
> I can't quite fathom a simultaneous mutation in a breeding pair or within a group.
You don;t need to. All it takes is a mutation in the reproductive system of *one* individual. A stray cosmic ray or retrovirus invades an egg cell or an early embryo such that the mutation is carried through to the new individuals reproductive system. His/her children will have the same mutation.
So theoretically at least, there is a probability that there was a single common ancestor, probably a female, that passed the mutated, now-human, gene through mating with existing non-human anthropoids?
And the line bred true and separated later somehow so that human anthropoids could no longer breed with humanoids. Fantasic. What are the odds on that happening--and the very small genealogical line being unbroken in the early years by disease or violent death? Could have ended at any time.
Or maybe there were various similar mutations that die out or that account for Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens differences?
How often do gene mutations that survive occur?
Is there any documentation on that?
(I hope you don't mind me picking your brain on this stuff but this has been a great conversation for me.)