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> A new paper challenges the traditional idea that our species evolved from a single population in one region of Africa. every article or paper on this topic i
by singularity2001 8y ago
> A new paper challenges the traditional idea that our species evolved from a single population in one region of Africa.
every article or paper on this topic in the last 10 years talked about a complicated network of genetic branches instead of a simple linear tree
- bilbo0s 8y agoIn fairness... >a complicated network of genetic branches... kind of implies a tree. I haven't read the other papers, but, at it's root, the paper that is the subject of this posting seems to imply that the root species came much, much earlier than we typically believe. I'd need more access to the genetic data they are basing that conclusion on to know if they are right? But it sounds right. Why could sapiens not have risen in Africa millions of years earlier? (At the same time, we have to be careful. Sounding right is not how we should be evaluating scientific theories.)
- dspillett 8y ago> In fairness... > >a complicated network of genetic branches... > kind of implies a tree. Not quite. The implication is that some separate branches that developed distinct (but not incompatible) differences over time due to geographical or social separation later merged into other branches, meaning that there isn't a simple linear sequence from every point in the tree back to the one root.
- julienchastang 8y agoExactly. I have heard the expression "braided stream" be used for this description.
- singularity2001 8y agoYes! Neanderthals being the most prominent recent example. Now let's convince linguists that Semitic and PIE languages are related and we have won!