Who are we....Really?

[tecoyah]

"
A DNA test on an American hoping to trace his family tree has come up with a stunning result - the roots of the human tree date back much further than previously thought.
Researchers were shocked when they analysed the DNA of Albert Perry, a recently deceased African-American from South Carolina.
'This lineage diverged from previously known Y chromosomes about 338,000 years ago, a time when anatomically modern humans had not yet evolved,' said Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona.

Y me? X chromosome (left) and the much smaller Y chromosome, which determines male sex

Y IS IT IMPORTANT?


Unlike the other human chromosomes, the majority of the Y chromosome does not exchange genetic material with other chromosomes, which makes it simpler to trace ancestral relationships among contemporary lineages.

If two Y chromosomes carry the same mutation, it is because they share a common paternal ancestor at some point in the past.

The more mutations that differ between two Y chromosomes the farther back in time the common ancestor lived.



'This pushes back the time the last common Y chromosome ancestor lived by almost 70 percent.'

This time predates the age of the oldest known anatomically modern human fossils.

The fossil record dates back about 200,000 years, said Hammer.
Either interbreeding with Neanderthals or other populations led to the unusual genetic makeup, he said, or humans evolved far earlier than the extant fossil record suggests.

The new divergent lineage - which was found when Mr Perry contacted Family Tree DNA, a company specializing in DNA analysis to trace family roots - branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.

Read more: The family tree test that rewrote human history: Researchers stunned to find DNA submitted to online service dates back 338,000 years | Mail Online
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So....where did we begin, and when did we become "Human"?
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[ThirdTerm]

The discovery shows that this African American man is directly descended from a previously unknown human species which coexisted with anatomically modern humans in Africa about 338,000 years ago and interbred with AMHs, which is as rare as discovering someone who is a direct descendant of the Neanderthals in Europe or Asia. It's also known that Native Australians and Melanesians are closely related to the Denisovans which existed somewhere in southeast Asia and they owe up to 9% of their genetic material to the Denisovans and there could be the last Denisovan among the present-day Papuan-speaking people.

 

[tecoyah]

Admittedy, the Densovian branch is wicked cool. This just seems even more so...considering the likely hood of further discovery.

It may be we finally find the "missing link" that everyone knows cannot exist.

 

[Protectionist]

"
A DNA test on an American hoping to trace his family tree has come up with a stunning result - the roots of the human tree date back much further than previously thought.
Researchers were shocked when they analysed the DNA of Albert Perry, a recently deceased African-American from South Carolina.

Slightly off topic I know, but I can't help but comment. The term "African-American", as used to describe Black people, is not a correct usage. I have known 4 people who truly are African-Americans, all of whom were born and raised in Africa, and immigrated to the USA. They are from Tanzania, South Africa, Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe), and the Ivory Coast. All 4 are white. All 4 are African-Americans.
Was Albert Perry born in Africa ? The terms Black or Negro are more correct.

 

[David]

Slightly off topic I know, but I can't help but comment. The term "African-American", as used to describe Black people, is not a correct usage. I have known 4 people who truly are African-Americans, all of whom were born and raised in Africa, and immigrated to the USA. They are from Tanzania, South Africa, Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe), and the Ivory Coast. All 4 are white. All 4 are African-Americans.
Was Albert Perry born in Africa ? The terms Black or Negro are more correct.

I'd cry PC foul too, except I really think it's no different then Irish-American, Italian-American, etc. Stupid but still just a harmless attempt to connect to ancestry.