¶ … Africa" to "Out of Beringia": Can Population Genetics Explain the Mechanisms underlying the formation of Distinct Cultures and Linguistic Groups?
The "Out of Africa" Theory
The "Out of Africa" theory has played a major influential role in how other population genetics studies are approached, conducted, and interpreted (reviewed in: Campbell & Tishkoff, 2010). According to this theory populations of anatomically modern (H. sapiens) humans left the African Continent sporadically over a period of 10's of thousands of years and these outward migrations constitute the genetic origins of all non-Africans. The results from these studies in world population genetics paint a fascinating history of our species' gradual and sporadic entry into the rest of the world, a history that only a few decades ago was more theory than fact.
The "Out of Africa" theory gained support when researchers compared genetic markers in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Africans and non-Africans. The mtDNA is maternally inherited, which made it significantly less complicated to trace macro-migratory patterns during the evolutionary history of our species. Today, population genetic studies utilize a variety of genetic markers to map evolutionary lineages for humans and other species, including mtDNA, single nucleotide polymorphisms, inversions and transversions, INDELs (insertions/deletions), nuclear microsatellites, X-chromosome, and the Y-chromosome. With the complete sequence of both the autosomal and mitochondrial genomes now known the ability to reveal the finer details of our evolutionary history is at hand.
Homo sapiens evolved approximately 150,000 to 200,000 ya (years ago) in Africa based on the fossil record and genetic history of our species. By 100,000 ya, H. sapiens arrived in the Near East from Africa. Sometime between 40,000 and 80,000 ya another migration out of Africa entered Eurasia. Recent research supports the theory that the primary exit point from the African Continent for these populations was East Africa, across the Bab-el-Mandeb straight at the mouth of the Red Sea, and then along the south Asia coastline to Australia/Melanesia. Fossil records dating back to 55,000 ya in Australia support this conclusion. Although migration through North Africa and the Nile Valley could have been another major exit point, the genetic evidence points...
Human evolution is the origin and evolution of Homo sapiens as a species that can be distinguished from other hominids, great apes, and mammals. Neanderthals are a unique species as they can be either classified as a subspecies of Homo sapiens as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, or can be classified as a distinct and separate species as Homo neanderthalensis. Though Neanderthals are presently considered an extinct species, evidence indicates that H.
Human Biology Human Evolution in Africa The human evolution in Africa is a drawn out process of transformation by which natives' originated from the apelike ancestors. Scientific study shows that behavioral traits and physical traits shared by the people came from the apelike ancestors over approximation of six million years ago. The earliest traits were the bipedalism is walking using the two rear limbs. Other human trait was the ability to make
This postmodern view of culture is applicable in the 20th century analyses and discussions introduced by Boyd and Richerson. In effect, the first assumption explicates how culture brings forth history, and in history, "qualitative different trajectories" occur: "...the dynamics of the system must be path dependent; isolated populations or societies must tend to diverge even when they start from the same initial condition and evolve in similar environments" (186). After
Human Evolution Heading? The evolution of the human being has been the subject of constant research since technology has enabled scientists to have a more technical and elaborated approach on this theme. The results of such research are remarkable and at the same time contradictory. Apparently, according to research conducted, although people have evolved in terms of eating habits, resources available, and living conditions, these evolutions enable them to sometimes use
Bipedalism – Human Evolution Introduction Human evolution takes into account the biotic as well as cultural development of humans. Human philosophies of the manner in which evolution of man came to be is ascertained by beliefs that have been espoused by scientists and societies dating as back as 400 decades ago. Human species, scientifically referred to as homo sapiens has extremely evolved in the last number of billion years. There have been
The term mosaic evolution is used to describe the different features of an organism evolve at different rates. The efficient bipedal movement is a peculiarity that appeared very early and perhaps is the single most significant development in the emergence of man. Since this information is available from New Haven Teachers Institute, Yale, the information is accurate and reliable. Article-3. Skybreak, Ardea. Part 6D: The Two Biggest Leaps in Hominid
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