Hominid Migrations

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mtDNA and Migration Routes

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: The Woodstock of Evolution -- The World Summit on Evolution, held in the Galapagos Islands, revealed a science rich in history and tradition, data and theory, as well as controversy and debate: "University of Cambridge professor Peter Forster, an expert in archaeogenetics outlined our migrational history over the past 200,000 years as follows: Between 190,000-130,000 years ago, a single female known formally as the 'mitochondrial coalescent' but dubbed 'mitochondrial Eve,' gave rise to every living human today. Between 80,000 and 60,000 years ago, a large population from the center of Africa migrated to all areas of Africa, as well as the area of present-day Saudi Arabia. This migration may have taken two routes, a northern one up the Nile and around the Red Sea, and a southern one across the narrow straight which, during the last ice age would have only been five kilometers across (Forster thinks the latter the most likely route). Between 60,000 and 30,000 years ago there was a great migration to Southeast Asia, Northern Asia, and Europe. Between 30,000 and 20,000 years ago, people spread throughout the rest of the world, including Australia, and between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago they migrated into North America, making their way into South America between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago. The final migration over the past 2,000 years saw the settlement of the Pacific islands."

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