EvolutionHard

Question

There are two opposing views about origin of modern man. According to one view Homo erectus in Asia were the ancestors of modern man. A study of variation of DNA however, suggested African origin of modern man. What kind observation on DNA variation could suggest this ?

Options

A.Greater variation in Asia than in Africa
B.Greater variation in Africa than in Asia
C.Similar variation in Asia and Africa
D.Variation only in Asia and variation in Africa

Solution

There are two model abour origin of modern man (homo sapiens sapiens), ie,
(a) Multiregional model : Accordingto this view, modern human evolved in many parts of the world from regional descendants of Homo erectus who dispersed from Africa between 1 and 2 million year ago.
(b) Monogenesis model : According to this view only African descendants of Homo erectus gave rise to modern humans.
In late 1980s Rebecca Cann and other geneticists supports this view on the basis of DNA of living humans. They compared the mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) of a multiathenic sample of more than 100 people representing four containents. The greater the difference between the mtDNAs of two people, the longer ago that mtDNAs diverged from a com mon source that the divergence of mtDNA of Africans from common sources began just 200000 years ago, much to late to represent the dispersal of Homo erectus. Thus there are greater variation in Asia than in Africa.

Create a free account to view solution

View Solution Free
Topic: Evolution·Practice all Evolution questions

More Evolution Questions