We’re ALL related: How whole of mankind descends from ONE couple 200,000 years ago
MODERN humans descend from a single couple who mated up to 200,000 years ago, scientists have claimed.
The stunning conclusion was reached by researchers who surveyed millions of genetic ‘bar codes’ of 100,000 different species - including humans - and believe that one particular union resulted in billions of humans being born through centuries. They say reproduction by the solitary pair who lived about 100,000 to 200,000 years ago happened after a catastrophic event which nearly wiped out the entire human race. Mark Stoeckle and David Thaler who led the study conducted by the Rockefeller University and the University of Basel arrived at the conclusion after examining mitochondrial DNA which mothers pass down from generation to generation.
This, the scientists claim, showed the “absence of human exceptionalism” and showed humans are actually “low to average in genetic diversity”.
Dr Stoeckle said: “One might have thought that, due to their high population numbers and wide geographic distribution, humans might have led to greater genetic diversity than other animal species.
He added: “At a time when humans place so much emphasis on individual and group differences, maybe we should spend more time on the ways in which we resemble one another and the rest of the animal kingdom.”
Dr Stoeckle even claimed that despite humans being intrinsically different from animals, in terms of basic biology “we’re like the birds”.
Express.
