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Every person alive today can trace their DNA lineage to a single man and woman. This is not the Adam and Eve of the Judeo-Christian religion, but two individuals who lived in ancient Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago. These two did not actually live at the same time. How can this be? Well, the men and women of the original small human population of Africa who lived around 200,000 years ago passed on their genes just like everybody else does. But not all of those separate lineages survived. Some of the original people either didn't have children due to injury, disease, or death, or someone in their lineage down the line didn't have children due to those same reasons. Countless lineages have gone extinct just like different animals species. The Mitochondrial DNA (that passed from a mother to her children) of one woman, known in science as "Mitochondrial Eve," was lucky enough to survive the platitudes of prehistoric life to be passed on to every human alive. The Y chromosome of one man, "Y Chromosomal Adam," born thousands of years later was also lucky enough to survive as well. For an explanatory chart and a much more eloquent description of the process, see the book Before the Dawn (2006) by Nicholas Wade.

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Is it rue that humans have not descended from chimpanzees but do have a common ancestor with them?

Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees. According the the theory of evolution, all types of organisms share a common ancestor. Those "basic" species evolved into other species. So humans and chimpanzees are descended from a common primate ancestor Humans decended from a common ancestor, one of which evolved to the chimps and the other to humans. So we are therefore the 5th ape. All living things share a universal common ancestor as we are the products of evolution by natural selection. And there are skeletal remains to prove it.


Is it true that all women are related to one person?

Yes, all humans are related to a single common ancestor from thousands of years ago, based on genetic and evolutionary evidence. This common ancestor is sometimes referred to as "mitochondrial Eve" for women, as everyone's mitochondrial DNA can be traced back to her.


If Darwin believed we came from apes then where did apes originate from?

Charles Darwin believed that apes evolved from earlier, more primitive species, which in turn evolved from even earlier species. Ultimately, all mammals, including the apes and humans, evolved from the first mammal species, which in turn evolved from earlier species, and so on back to the beginning of life on Earth.


Is evolution of human true?

Yes, the theory of evolution is well-supported by scientific evidence, including fossil records and genetic studies. Humans share a common ancestor with other primates, and have undergone changes over millions of years to become the species we are today.


Did humans evolve from a monkey?

Charles Darwin did not think that humans evolved from monkeys. Rather, he believed, based on many years of research in the fields of biology and comparative anatomy, that anatomically similar species such as humans, apes, and monkeys probably evolved, over a period of many thousands of years, from a common, ape-like ancestor, now extinct. Recent studies in biology and genetics, using techniques not available in Darwin's time, have confirmed and further clarified his theory. In order to gain a further understanding of Darwin's thinking, you might want to look up "Charles Darwin" and "Evolution" in a variety of encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin). High School and College textbooks of biology may also cover this topic with more or less completeness. Many fine books have also been written on this subject, including Darwin's "The Origin of Species and the Descent of Man" and the fine biographical novel, "The Origin," by Irving Stone.

Related Questions

Is it true that we all started off as gorillas?

No. Humans and gorillas evolved from the same common ancestor, but one did not come from the other.


What is a group of species that includes a single common ancestor and all descendents?

Unless life evolved multiple times on Earth all species share a common ancestor with each other. The list is for all practical purposes limitless. Humans and wolves Guinee Pigs and Wales Cock Roaches and Mice and so on.....


Is it rue that humans have not descended from chimpanzees but do have a common ancestor with them?

Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees. According the the theory of evolution, all types of organisms share a common ancestor. Those "basic" species evolved into other species. So humans and chimpanzees are descended from a common primate ancestor Humans decended from a common ancestor, one of which evolved to the chimps and the other to humans. So we are therefore the 5th ape. All living things share a universal common ancestor as we are the products of evolution by natural selection. And there are skeletal remains to prove it.


Were Humans made from Gorrilas?

NO please read the bible ======================== No. The closest primates to humans are chimpanzees. We all (humans, chimpanzes, gorillas, and other primates) evolved, over millions of years, from some common ancestor, but anthropologists have not yet identified that common ancestor.


Is it true that all women are related to one person?

Yes, all humans are related to a single common ancestor from thousands of years ago, based on genetic and evolutionary evidence. This common ancestor is sometimes referred to as "mitochondrial Eve" for women, as everyone's mitochondrial DNA can be traced back to her.


All of the members of a lineage group could claim to be descended from a common ancestor true or false?

True. A lineage group consists of individuals who trace their ancestry back to a common progenitor. All members of the lineage group are believed to be descendants of this shared ancestor.


Did man and ape have a common ancestor?

An 'ape' is any primate belonging to the superfamily Hominoidea, and this includes humans, so we 'are' apes, along with gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. All these species though have a common ancestor.


What evidence suggests that humans and bats have a common ancestor?

For one, both humans and bats are in the class Mamalia, which is reason enough to suggest that they come from a common ancestor. The modern classification system, developed by Linnaeus, and modified by scientists such as Darwin and Lyell, is based of common ancestors. So, all mammals come from a common ancestor. How do we know this? Well, all mammals share a peculiar trait: All mammals are completely indistinguishable at the pre embryonic stage. This proves that bats and humans come from common ancestry.


Did monkeys evolve into humans?

Rather than existing in a hierarchical relationship, monkeys and humans evolved from a common ancestor. In other words, they branched off and evolved separately.


Is the following sentence true or false homologous structures provide strong evidence that all four limbed vertebrates have descended with modifications from common ancestors?

True, they descend from a common ancestor.


Did humans evolve yes or no?

yes all animals evolved from a "common ancestor" and are still evolvingrelationships between all animals are summarised in "trees of life" that propose possible scenaris of evolution according to available scientific datas.You can visualise on them when divergence occured between animals from a common ancestor


What common ancestor do two or more descendants share?

The common ancestor that two or more descendants share is a shared ancestor from whom they both or all descend.