The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyPenguin Adult, 2003 M05 29 - 288 pages Around 60,000 years ago, a man, identical to us in all important respects, walked the soil of Africa. Every man alive today is descended from him. How did he come to be father to all of us - a real-life Adam? And why do we come in such a huge variety of sizes, shapes, types and races if we all share a single prehistoric ancestor?
In this fascinating book, Spencer Wells shows how the truth about our ancestors is hidden in our genetic code, and reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible not just to discover where our ancestors lived (and who they may have fought, loved, learned from and influence) but to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. |
From inside the book
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... present day in some anthropological literature . This is largely as a result of the great difficulty in explaining the physical diversity in humans , as well as certain patterns in the fossil record . Perhaps the best - known recent ...
... present - day Adelaide . From the animal remains found at the site it is clear that several large species of extinct marsupials lived around the lakes , including the buffalo - sized Zygomaturus and a 200 - kg short - faced kangaroo ...
... present . By the time we get to 40,000 years , only one sixty - fourth of the original C - 14 is still present – less than 2 per cent . This makes the sample extremely susceptible to contamination by minute quantities of modern material ...