Also known as the mother of all humans, lived 2000 years ago. She is the most recent common ancestor MRCA. In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person. Because all mitocgondrial DNA is generally passed from mother to offspring without recombination, all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in every living person is directly descended from hers by definition. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of Y-Chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor, although they lived thousands of years apart. She most likely lived in east Africa.
While we are all descendants of Mitochondrial eve, we are quite diverse.
French Woman
Japanese woman
Senegalese woman
Swedish woman
Native American Woman
The decedents of mitichrondrial eve all look different because through out the years they migrated to other parts of the world. Experiencing different environments and environmental conditions. Depending on exposure to sun, their skin pigmentation began to change colors.
Estimated Migration Patterns of her decedents
This video explains the concept of Mitochondrial Eve in a bit more detail!
This week for lab we went to the Dog Park in Macon called Tyler's Place to take samples of the water in the park and discover if there are any parasites or bacteria in the water. While there we discussed the impact dog parks have on communities. Dog Parks can be quite central to a community. Dog parks can really bring people together, people who share at least one thing in common: their love for dogs. . There are many benefits of dog parks such as they provide dogs with an excellent source of dog-dog and dog-people social interaction. They also provide the dogs a place where they can have off-leash exercise experience. There are also community advantages such as their presence would decrease the chances of dog owners letting their dogs off of their leashes in public places, people are more likely to encounter people who enjoy dogs and it could potentially provide a good location for dog community events (like we saw at the Macon dog park).
The water source that runs through the dog park. (Where we took the water samples).
The even have water fountians for the dogs!
While dog parks one their face appear good(which they may very well be), there is some controversy over dog parks. There are some disadvantages of dog parks for people, dogs, and the community. For people dog parks can be disadvantageous because of the potential for dog fights, danger of aggressive dogs, dog related injuries and the potential for parasites. For dogs dog parks have the disadvantage of the potential of parasites and disease, potential of being over excited and lack of impulse control. Also there is the potential for injury and the interaction of small and big dogs which may be dangerous. For the community dog parks have the disadvantage of the potential for people to abuse the park including not picking up their dogs poo, leaving the dog unattended or allowing their dog to indulge in inappropriate behavior. Also their is the potential of loud niose and liability issues.
Its like a play ground for dogs!
Here is a great website that addresses dog park etiquette, body language, tips ad more!
Video about the dog park!
For more information regarding dog parks check out this website.
The film Darwin's Dilemma examines what many consider to be the most powerful refutation of Darwinian evolution, the Cambrian fossil record. Charles Darwin realized that the fossil evidence did not support his theory of gradual, step-by-step evolutionary development. He hoped that future generations of scientists would make the discoveries necessary to validate his ideas. A robust Cambrian Explosion destroys the concept of evolution by gradual natural selection. If anything, the Cambrian event seems even more abrupt than it did in Darwin's day. The movie shows how the Precambrian layer contains single-celled creatures but no obvious ancestors of the Cambrian Phyla. By looking at the Burgess Shale of BC and the Chengjiang fossils of China the film shows how soft-bodied and microscopic creatures are exquisitely well preserved in the rocks but no transitional forms connect the animal phyla. Thus, the old Darwinist excuse that the transitional really did exist but were too small and soft-bodied to be preserved is untenable.
The Walcot Query of the Burgess Shale
I found it very interesting that this film was kinda of going against Darwins Theory of evolution. It is interesting to think about the possibility of another explanation to the creation of human beings that has some scientific evidence that is not the theory of evolution.
Amphioxus, also known as lancelet's, are usually found buried in sand in shallow parts of temperate and tropical seas. Amphioxus is believed to be the most primitive example of vertebrate . It is believed to be the ancestral precursor for all other vertebrates. It is important in zoology and may provide indications about the origins of vertebrates. Amphioxus serve as an intriguing comparison point for tracing how vertebrates have evolved and adapted. Although Amphioxus split from vertebrates more than 520 million years ago, their genomes hold clues about evolution, particularly how vertebrates have employed old genes for new functions. Lancelets grow up to about 2.0 in long, reaching 2.8 in at the longest. They have a translucent, somewhat fish-like body, but without any paired fins or other limbs.
an amphioxus
Amphioxi spend much of their time buried in gravel or mud on the ocean bottom, although they are able to swim. When feeding, they let the anterior part of the body project from the surface of the gravel so that they can filter food particles from water passing through their gill slits. At night they often swim near the bottom. They burrow into sand using rapid movements of the body, which is tapered at both ends and is covered by a sheath (the cuticle).
For this lab we went to the Hitchiti Experimental Forest. It is called an experimental forest because scientist will set parts of the forest on fire to learn and understand how forests recover from fires and what sorts of plants and animals live in such areas. We went on a nice long hike and say some beautiful aspects of nature. We also learned a lot about different types of plants.
experimental forest fire
Wild Ginger
One plant we learned about was Wild Ginger aka Asarum. Wild Ginger is a low growing herb that the natives of this area would eat. It is called wild ginger because its tatste is very similiar to the taste of ginger root. Wild ginger favors moist, shaded sites with humus-rich soil.
Me hugging a tree
Another plant we learned about Sassafras, which is a tree. Sassafras is really interesting because it actually has 3 differernt leaf types. It has a leaf shaped like a glove, a mitten and a typical leaf shape. assafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter.
The different leaves of a sassafras tree!
Dr. Rood sticking his hand in a random hole, hes crazy!
Jacksons Springs Park was really cool. It was really interesting to learn all the history of the area, including the Baconsfield area and how these nieghborhoods developed around Macon. It was cool to learn that jacksons Springs park was actually much larger back in the day and extended all the way over to the Baconsfields kroger. A man named Bacon or Baconsfield owned a all of this way back in the day. He had most of this land made into a huge private park that even had a zoo in it! Apparrantly after he died he left the park to the white women and children of Macon, Ga. Obviously this caused some tension since this was racist. Parts of the park have now been converted into commercial areas but the Jackson Springs park remains. I found this all very interesting.
Jackson Springs Park
We also learned about a lot of geology while we were there. We looked at rocks in its creek. We learned the difference between Feldspar and Quartz. Feldspar breaks into geometric shapes. The pink in granite is feldspar. We also say sandstone, which is very fragile and soapstone. We also learned that metamophic rock looks squashed and has white viens in it.
