WIKIMEDIA, PLOCIAMMitochondrial Eve—the most recent common ancestor of women, estimated to be 190,000 to 200,000 years old—may not have been much older than ancient “Adam.” According to a pair of papers published in Science yesterday (August 1), the most recent common ancestor of men is now calculated to have lived between 120,000 to 200,000 years ago.
Previous estimates suggested the most recent common male ancestor lived just 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, creating a discrepancy between the divergence of men and women from their most recent common ancestors. But, analyzing the Y chromosome sequences of 69 men from nine populations across the globe, scientists from Stanford University and their colleagues have found that the most recent common patrilineal ancestor did not live much more recently than its matrilineal counterpart. Similarly, by studying the genomes of 1,204 Sardinian men with a focus on the Y chromosome, a team led by investigators at the Università di Sassari in Italy calculated a putative age for the most recent common male ancestor that is consistent with previous estimates of the female ancestor based on mitochondrial ...
