ANTH 1131 Lecture : Conflicts and Problems with Out of Africa.docx
Document Summary
By looking at how many new mutations occurred from europe to. North america, we can find mtdna mutation rates. 2-4% of our mtdna changes per million years. Based on mtdna, there are problems with computing the coalescence point. Based on direct observation of modern human genetics, the rate of mtdna change (random mutations) are 24x higher than those estimated based on fossil studies. At this rate, all amh mtdna coalesces at 6,500 bp! Weak garden of eden hypothesis believes that: Rather than a group of amh moving out of africa and taking over the other species in europe, asia, etc. , it was a movement of genes instead. The movement out of africa was the diffusion of a successful genetic package not actual movement of people. Over time, the genetic package moves out of africa and into asia and europe. The package happens to be very advantageous traits, such as the ability to speak or higher intelligence.
