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16 points

This might be a really dumb question, but is it possible that any two human beings don’t share a common ancestor? Like, do we all link back to a single bacteria or were there multiple “made” at once?

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44 points

There is a genetic Adam and Eve. However, I don’t think they existed at the same time. These were humans, not just apes/mammals/animals/bacteria. We are all distantly related.

We are also more related to mushrooms than trees are to mushrooms.

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21 points

Yeah, it’s hard to pin down when these common ancestors lived precisely, especially given that as portions of our genome go extinct, the common ancestor will change.

But Y-chromosomal Adam is estimated to have lived around 200,000 years ago, while estimates for when Mitochondrial Eve lived are a bit more recent, around 150,000 years ago.

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4 points

how far back is that in terms of great grandpas and great grandmas?

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17 points

A quarter of us trace back to one mongol, fairly certain there’s going to be a point we all tie together to the same ape eating magic mushrooms in what would become Africa. Long ass time ago though

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14 points

No, all humans share a common ancestor, as does all multicellular life. Google clades for more info.

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3 points

With how funky micro organisms are with sharing DNA I’m not sure it matters. I’ve heard it likened to the genetic tree turning into a bush instead whare it’s a big mes of sharing of DNA across species.

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