Molecular Anthropology

Slide 24 of 109

Genetic differences among modern human people groups should provide evidence for the spread of humanity through the world. Those groups that exhibit the greatest genetic dissimilarity should represent the oldest populations. Therefore, the geographic location for the origin of modern humans can be determined from these studies. There is some interplay between the date of the last common ancestor and the population size of the species. The smaller the assumed population size results in an earlier date for the last common ancestor. Therefore, neither value can be absolutely determined.