Henry
Joined: 03 Apr 2001 Posts: 2878 Location: NYC
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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 11:51 pm Post subject: Always in search of a new topic... |
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Da Missing Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/17/AR2006051702158.html
Human Ancestors May Have Interbred With Chimpanzees
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 18, 2006; Page A01
When the ancestors of human beings and the ancestors of chimpanzees parted ways 6.3 million years ago, it was probably a very long goodbye. Some of their descendants may even have gone back for a final tryst.
That is the conclusion a group of scientists has reached, using a comparison of the genes of humans and their closest animal relatives to sketch a picture of human origins far more detailed than what fossil bones have revealed.
The 7 million-year-old Toumai skull unearthed in Chad in 2001 may have belonged to a line of non-hybrids that were not human ancestors
According to the new theory, chimps and humans shared a common apelike ancestor much more recently than was thought. Furthermore, when the two emerging species split from each other, it was not a clean break. Some members of the two groups seem to have interbred about 1.2 million years after they first diverged -- before going their separate ways for good.
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