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Out Of Africa Theory Essay

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Paleoanthropologists have pieced together several theories relating to the origin of human civilization. The genetic backing of the ‘Out of Africa Theory’ strongly supports the legitimacy of it and provides evidence regarding how modern humans came to populate the earth. It deals with looking at DNA samples to link people from around the world to various ancestors. Following that model researchers found that no matter where our most recent ancestors have come from they share an overall 99% of DNA. This is due to a common female and male ancestor called Scientific Adam and Scientific Eve, which scientists believe every person alive is related to. They are hypothetical humans who originated in Africa, and lived around 200,000-100,000 years ago, …show more content…

They would eventually make their way into Asia, Australia and Europe, leaving behind evidence of their migration as they went. The move would not simply happen all at one time, or even within generations. Anthropologists discus the possibility of each group moving a small distance further than their direct ancestors, creating a slow move, often along coast lines, which unfortunately would leave little evidence on land. The major support from this theory comes from genetic findings, which links the DNA of all modern humans, despite ethnic background and ancestral tracking. This evidence shows that although humans come from many different countries, across various continents, we all share extremely similar DNA, and various minute changes in our genetic code can help link people to various tracks of early human migration. Although evidence of other similar species were found throughout various continents, single-origin theorists believe that Homo sapiens replaced them due to a type of biological or cultural advantage. Homo sapiens may have been more able to handle environmental changes, than other species, leading to the extinction of one species, such as Neanderthals. Although there is genetic evidence to support the single-origin theory, anthropologists who believe in the ‘Multiregional Theory’ have argued that genetic evidence is flawed, and not

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