New approaches to dating suggest a recent age for the human mtDNA ancestor.

doi:10.1098/rstb.1992.0094

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Article

New approaches to dating suggest a recent age for the human mtDNA ancestor.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences - 29 Aug 1992

Stoneking M, Sherry S T, Redd A J, Vigilant L

Abstract excerpt

The most critical and controversial feature of the African origin hypothesis of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) evolution is the relatively recent age of about 200 ka inferred for the human mtDNA ancestor. If this age is wrong, and the actual age instead approaches 1 million years ago, then the c...

Topics

Animals
Biological Evolution
DNA, Mitochondrial
Genetic Variation
Hominidae
Humans
Phylogeny
Restriction Mapping
Species Specificity
Time

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