[dread78645]

> "Maybe neither were in Africa when this was going on."

"no molecular remnants of this ancient infection appear in the DNA of people, whose ancestors also inhabited Africa, or in the genes of apes, such as orangutans, from Asia"

Could be. The article mentions that macaques had the retroviral sequences, but didn't give details of whether they were Barbary (N. Africa) or the Japanese (Asian) Macaques.

If the 1.5 Mya time is correct, Homo would have had already branched off sufficiently.
On another hand, if it was introduced 4.0 Mya that makes for some interesting questions. Did Homo branch in spite of the virus, or because of it?

[blam]

"If the 1.5 Mya time is correct, Homo would have had already branched off sufficiently. On another hand, if it was introduced 4.0 Mya that makes for some interesting questions. Did Homo branch in spite of the virus, or because of it?"

I was watching a program last night on National Geographic titled: The Ultimate Survivor and they dated these guys to 1.75 million years, Stranger In A New Land. There's a 'tip' here. Also, on the same program, they showed that the 'Hobbits' on Flores had made shell necklaces 80k years ago...which H. Erectus wasn't suppose to be smart/capable enough to do.

[SunkenCiv]

It's not enough for the Replacement advocates, because that time frame directly impacts their claim.