B
Bob
Guest
Dr. Andrew B. Chung wrote:
> Yes. There is actually scientific evidence at the genetic level for the existence of Eve.
Chung is talking about what's become called the "Replacement Theory"=20 wherein the premise is that
*one* early human female is the mother of=20 *all* living people as determined by mitochondrial DNA.
The theory=20 gained a bit of support when the analyses were first reported, but=20 since then,
other fossil records and nuclear DNA studies have put the=20 idea to rest. The mechanism that
Replacement Theory posited was that=20 there must have been a global catastrophe or mass extinction
of some=20 sort that killed all but a small group of humans which then went on to=20 populate the
whole world. The contrasting findings are called=20 "Multiregional Evolution" (among other titles)
that assert that early=20 humans dispersed across the world and evolved and interrelated from there=
=2E
This is about as shocking a "revelation" of Chung's anti-scientific=20 aberration as he's ever
posted. The genetic information is scant=20 "evidence" for the belief, and, in any event, it's been
debunked by=20 research and fossil evidence. Here are a few places to look, actual=20 universities
with real scientists, not wacko religious cranks talking.
"Even though the studies refer to a single man or woman in the past,=20 they do not imply that those
people were a couple or even that they=20 were the only parents of all humans. Their primary
significance is in=20 pointing to the time when anatomically modern human beings, ****=20 sapiens
sapiens, evolved from a more primitive ancestor, generally=20 thought to be an archaic form of ****
sapiens. Most experts think the=20 founders of the modern species numbered around 10,000."
<http://www.people.virginia.edu/~rjh9u/adameve.html>
--------------------
"Study puts =91Eve theory=92 of human evolution to rest" "Two million years ago somewhere in
Africa, a small group of=20 individuals became separated from other australopithecines. This=20
population bottleneck led to a series of sudden, interrelated=20 changes=97in body size, brain
size, skeletal proportions and=20 behavior=97that jump-started the evolution of our species.
"That is the conclusion of a new U-M study published in the January=20 2000 issue of Molecular
Biology and Evolution that analyzes a broad=20 range of genetic, fossil and archeological evidence
to decipher the=20 most likely scenario for the start of human evolution."
<http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/9900/Jan17_00/12.htm>
--------------------------
"The findings are the latest evidence in the continuing scientific=20 controversy about the origin
of modern **** sapiens. Many scientists=20 believe that all living humans can trace their ancestry
exclusively to=20 a small group of ancient humans, probably Africans, living around=20 100,000 years
ago. This explanation=97known as the Eve hypothesis or=20 replacement theory=97means that all other
early human groups, whose=20 fossils date from this time back to almost 2 million years ago, must=20
have become extinct, possibly wiped out in a prehistoric genetic=20 holocaust.
"Other scientists, including Wolpoff and his colleagues on this study,=20 maintain that there is
little evidence that a small group originating=20 in a single geographic region replaced the entire
population of early=20 humans.
"The genetic evidence always has been unclear, Wolpoff and his=20 colleagues note, because different
genes support different theories:=20 Mitochondrial genes support replacement theory, while nuclear
genes=20 support the development of an older, worldwide species of human ancestors=
=2E
" 'In asking the question a different way and directly addressing the=20 fossils, this study
provides compelling evidence that replacement is=20 the wrong explanation,' Wolpoff says. 'Instead,
the findings support=20 the theory of multiregional evolution. Modern humans are the present=20
manifestation of an older worldwide species with populations connected=20 by gene flow and the
exchange of ideas. Modern human groups are very=20 much more similar than different because of
comparable adaptations to=20 ideas and technologies that spread across the inhabited world and=20
because of the dispersals of successful genes promoted by selection.'"
<http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0001/Jan22_01/12.htm>
-------------------------------
Genetic Distance and Language Affinities Between Autochthonous=20 Human Populations "Part of
this research was the theory of "Eve," a single female in=20 Africa, around 200,000 years
ago, from whom every living human being=20 is now descended. This does not mean that there
were not other human=20 females -- there were -- or that we are not descended from them too
--=20 we are.
"The theory is based on the circumstance that some human genetic=20 material is contained in the
mitochondria, little organs in a cell=20 outside the nucleus (where most genetic material is
contained). Sperm=20 cells do not pass on their mitochondria to a fertilzed egg and so all=20 human
mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother. If a woman has=20 only sons (a highly desirable
result in many traditional cultures),=20 then her own mitochondrial DNA is actually lost. Over time,
this seems=20 to have happened to all lines of descent of Mitochondrial DNA, except=20 one, the line
from "Eve." Another interesting feature of the chart is=20 the closeness of American Indians to
modern population across Europe,=20 the Middle East, and northern East Asia. Thus, curiously,
Europeans=20 are more closely related to American Indians than to Polynesians.=20 Finally, it is
noteworthy that skin color is not at all helpful is=20 providing clues to genetic affinity. The
darkest colored people on=20 earth, in Africa, India, Melanesia, and Australia, are scattered=20
between groups that are only distantly related. Dark skin color is=20 certainly a function of living
under the equatorial sun for many=20 generations, but all human populations have the genetic
wherewithal to=20 make that adaptation.
"The final chart shows one view of human evolution, with various=20 species of genus
Australopithecus back in the Pliocene, leading to=20 three species of genus **** in the Pleistocene.
**** erectus had=20 already spread into Asia, as far away as China and Java, but the=20 archaic form
of **** sapiens, as seen in the genetic tree above,=20 spread into Asia all over again. The blue
names and lines are for the=20 glacial episodes that characterize the Pleistocene."
<http://www.friesian.com/trees.htm>
The fundamentalist view that there was actually a single, historic,=20 flesh-and-blood Eve has no
supporting proof.
Bob
> Yes. There is actually scientific evidence at the genetic level for the existence of Eve.
Chung is talking about what's become called the "Replacement Theory"=20 wherein the premise is that
*one* early human female is the mother of=20 *all* living people as determined by mitochondrial DNA.
The theory=20 gained a bit of support when the analyses were first reported, but=20 since then,
other fossil records and nuclear DNA studies have put the=20 idea to rest. The mechanism that
Replacement Theory posited was that=20 there must have been a global catastrophe or mass extinction
of some=20 sort that killed all but a small group of humans which then went on to=20 populate the
whole world. The contrasting findings are called=20 "Multiregional Evolution" (among other titles)
that assert that early=20 humans dispersed across the world and evolved and interrelated from there=
=2E
This is about as shocking a "revelation" of Chung's anti-scientific=20 aberration as he's ever
posted. The genetic information is scant=20 "evidence" for the belief, and, in any event, it's been
debunked by=20 research and fossil evidence. Here are a few places to look, actual=20 universities
with real scientists, not wacko religious cranks talking.
"Even though the studies refer to a single man or woman in the past,=20 they do not imply that those
people were a couple or even that they=20 were the only parents of all humans. Their primary
significance is in=20 pointing to the time when anatomically modern human beings, ****=20 sapiens
sapiens, evolved from a more primitive ancestor, generally=20 thought to be an archaic form of ****
sapiens. Most experts think the=20 founders of the modern species numbered around 10,000."
<http://www.people.virginia.edu/~rjh9u/adameve.html>
--------------------
"Study puts =91Eve theory=92 of human evolution to rest" "Two million years ago somewhere in
Africa, a small group of=20 individuals became separated from other australopithecines. This=20
population bottleneck led to a series of sudden, interrelated=20 changes=97in body size, brain
size, skeletal proportions and=20 behavior=97that jump-started the evolution of our species.
"That is the conclusion of a new U-M study published in the January=20 2000 issue of Molecular
Biology and Evolution that analyzes a broad=20 range of genetic, fossil and archeological evidence
to decipher the=20 most likely scenario for the start of human evolution."
<http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/9900/Jan17_00/12.htm>
--------------------------
"The findings are the latest evidence in the continuing scientific=20 controversy about the origin
of modern **** sapiens. Many scientists=20 believe that all living humans can trace their ancestry
exclusively to=20 a small group of ancient humans, probably Africans, living around=20 100,000 years
ago. This explanation=97known as the Eve hypothesis or=20 replacement theory=97means that all other
early human groups, whose=20 fossils date from this time back to almost 2 million years ago, must=20
have become extinct, possibly wiped out in a prehistoric genetic=20 holocaust.
"Other scientists, including Wolpoff and his colleagues on this study,=20 maintain that there is
little evidence that a small group originating=20 in a single geographic region replaced the entire
population of early=20 humans.
"The genetic evidence always has been unclear, Wolpoff and his=20 colleagues note, because different
genes support different theories:=20 Mitochondrial genes support replacement theory, while nuclear
genes=20 support the development of an older, worldwide species of human ancestors=
=2E
" 'In asking the question a different way and directly addressing the=20 fossils, this study
provides compelling evidence that replacement is=20 the wrong explanation,' Wolpoff says. 'Instead,
the findings support=20 the theory of multiregional evolution. Modern humans are the present=20
manifestation of an older worldwide species with populations connected=20 by gene flow and the
exchange of ideas. Modern human groups are very=20 much more similar than different because of
comparable adaptations to=20 ideas and technologies that spread across the inhabited world and=20
because of the dispersals of successful genes promoted by selection.'"
<http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0001/Jan22_01/12.htm>
-------------------------------
Genetic Distance and Language Affinities Between Autochthonous=20 Human Populations "Part of
this research was the theory of "Eve," a single female in=20 Africa, around 200,000 years
ago, from whom every living human being=20 is now descended. This does not mean that there
were not other human=20 females -- there were -- or that we are not descended from them too
--=20 we are.
"The theory is based on the circumstance that some human genetic=20 material is contained in the
mitochondria, little organs in a cell=20 outside the nucleus (where most genetic material is
contained). Sperm=20 cells do not pass on their mitochondria to a fertilzed egg and so all=20 human
mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother. If a woman has=20 only sons (a highly desirable
result in many traditional cultures),=20 then her own mitochondrial DNA is actually lost. Over time,
this seems=20 to have happened to all lines of descent of Mitochondrial DNA, except=20 one, the line
from "Eve." Another interesting feature of the chart is=20 the closeness of American Indians to
modern population across Europe,=20 the Middle East, and northern East Asia. Thus, curiously,
Europeans=20 are more closely related to American Indians than to Polynesians.=20 Finally, it is
noteworthy that skin color is not at all helpful is=20 providing clues to genetic affinity. The
darkest colored people on=20 earth, in Africa, India, Melanesia, and Australia, are scattered=20
between groups that are only distantly related. Dark skin color is=20 certainly a function of living
under the equatorial sun for many=20 generations, but all human populations have the genetic
wherewithal to=20 make that adaptation.
"The final chart shows one view of human evolution, with various=20 species of genus
Australopithecus back in the Pliocene, leading to=20 three species of genus **** in the Pleistocene.
**** erectus had=20 already spread into Asia, as far away as China and Java, but the=20 archaic form
of **** sapiens, as seen in the genetic tree above,=20 spread into Asia all over again. The blue
names and lines are for the=20 glacial episodes that characterize the Pleistocene."
<http://www.friesian.com/trees.htm>
The fundamentalist view that there was actually a single, historic,=20 flesh-and-blood Eve has no
supporting proof.
Bob