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!
No comments:
Post a Comment