Evolution - Lecture 7, Human evolution

Question 1

When did humans originate?

Answer 1

70,000 years ago humans left Africa and dispersed to the rest of the world

Question 2

What is heterozygosity and what does this say about our origins?

Answer 2

Heterozygosity is genetic variation
It decreases with distance from East Africa which shows this is our origin point

Question 3

What were the Homo neanderthalensis?

Answer 3

Existed 400,000-300,000 years ago
Lived in family groups
Used things like hide and shells for resources (teeth worn down)

Question 4

What did the sequencing of a neanderthal gene show?

Answer 4

It showed non-africans interbred with neanderthals and this didn’t make a genetically different species
3% of non african DNA is neanderthal

Question 5

What did the discovery of the 40,000 year old tooth and a finger bone show?

Answer 5

The tooth wasn’t the same as neanderthal or human which shows different human species
The finger bone showed an unknown taxonomic position, Denisovans
Genome of the offspring of a neanderthal mother and a denisovan father is found