You are viewing an obsolete version of the DU website which is no longer supported by the Administrators. Visit The New DU.
Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Reply #5: That "nearly extinct" claim is questionable [View All]

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Topic Forums » Environment/Energy Donate to DU
starroute Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-02-10 12:21 PM
Response to Original message
5. That "nearly extinct" claim is questionable
The claim comes out of DNA studies -- but more skeptical reviews have suggested that all the studies mean is that Homo sapiens was evolving rapidly, so we're all descended from the few thousand individuals who were most "modern" and not those who were still relatively archaoc.

Another article I saw recently pointed out that the same kind of DNA studies show an equally low number of human ancestors at every point over the last 1.2 million years. Again, it doesn't seem to mean that we've been an endangered species all that time, but that we've been evolving very quickly -- and leaving much of our genetic inheritance behind us as we do.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 

Home » Discuss » Topic Forums » Environment/Energy Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC