Mitochondrial Eve
The Mitochondrial Eve is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all living humans, estimated to have lived around 155,000 years ago. Matrilineal descent through mitochondrial DNA aids in understanding human evolution.
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The Mitochondrial Eve, also known as the Mitochondrial-Most Recent Common Ancestor (mt-Eve or mt-MRCA), is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all living humans. She is the woman from whom all living humans descend through an unbroken line of maternal heritage. Situated at the divergence of mitochondrial haplogroups L0 and L1–6, estimates suggest she lived around 155,000 years ago. The male counterpart to Mitochondrial Eve is the Y-chromosomal Adam, with estimates of his existence ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. The term "Mitochondrial Eve" can be misleading, as she is not a fixed individual in time and does not represent the first woman or a new species. Research on the age of the mt-MRCA has shown consistency with estimates dating back to 1987, placing Mitochondrial Eve around 140,000 to 200,000 years ago. Matrilineal descent, traced through mitochondrial DNA, helps scientists understand ancestry and genetic relationships among populations. By analyzing descendants' DNA, ancestral genomes are estimated, highlighting the importance of Mitochondrial Eve in understanding human evolution.
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4 commentsIt's a useful mnemonic but also a misleading one when compared to the Biblical account:
- "Mitochondrial Eve" was not the only woman alive at the time, just the only one who still has surviving descendants
- She did not live at the same time as Y-chromosomal Adam, unless by sheer coincidence. They likely never met even if they were the same age.
- Both of these are titles, not people. As family lines die out, they both forward in time to new individuals. 1,000 years ago we probably had a different Adam and Eve who lived earlier in time.
- There's a book "Seven Daughters of Eve" which follows the splitting of haploid groups from Mitochondrial Eve, but you can pick any arbitrary number. They were not literally her daughters, and you could just as easily split further to get 8 or 9 or 100 of them.
It's neat stuff, but it's more "This is how math works" than "This is a historical account of a real-life woman and man who never met but their favorite color was blue."
https://xkcd.com/1545/ One day I too will either be the ancestor of all living humans, or none of them! I guess I'd be Y-chromosomal Eve lol
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