Mt DNA, a Maternal Perspective, and the Origin of Modern Humans

Abstract

For the last ten years, molecular approaches to studying human diversity have altered the way biologists interpret the evolutionary history of anatomically modern humans. Using a maternally inherited system of genes found in the cell’s mitochondria, researchers have suggested that all humans alive today can trace their maternal genealogies to an African woman who lived roughly 200,000 years ago. Haldane might have appreciated this emphasis on mutation and the importance of simple models for inference, but I also wonder what he might have thought about a “molecular clock” for evolutionary studies derived from counting mutations. Our discovery with mtDNA was unexpected and raises a number of questions about biological speciation and anthropological models for the origin of modern people. The ecological perspective that comes from working with endangered mammalian species, especially those having certain life-history characteristics similar to humans, also suggests some questions to be asked about social behaviors and environmental conditions that ensured the survival of our African ancestors.