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UF study of lice DNA shows humans first wore clothes 170,000 years ago
University of Florida ^ | January 6, 2011 | Danielle Torrent

Posted on 01/06/2011 1:54:04 PM PST by decimon

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study following the evolution of lice shows modern humans started wearing clothes about 170,000 years ago, a technology which enabled them to successfully migrate out of Africa.

Principal investigator David Reed, associate curator of mammals at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus, studies lice in modern humans to better understand human evolution and migration patterns. His latest five-year study used DNA sequencing to calculate when clothing lice first began to diverge genetically from human head lice.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the study is available online and appears in this month’s print edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

“We wanted to find another method for pinpointing when humans might have first started wearing clothing,” Reed said. “Because they are so well adapted to clothing, we know that body lice or clothing lice almost certainly didn’t exist until clothing came about in humans.”

The data shows modern humans started wearing clothes about 70,000 years before migrating into colder climates and higher latitudes, which began about 100,000 years ago. This date would be virtually impossible to determine using archaeological data because early clothing would not survive in archaeological sites.

The study also shows humans started wearing clothes well after they lost body hair, which genetic skin-coloration research pinpoints at about 1 million years ago, meaning humans spent a considerable amount of time without body hair and without clothing, Reed said.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.ufl.edu ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: crabs; godsgravesglyphs; gottagetmeagrant; helixmakemineadouble; lice; louse; originofclothing; ticks
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1 posted on 01/06/2011 1:54:10 PM PST by decimon
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To: decimon

They probably wore stupid blue and orange UF Gator colors. What a waste of money “study.”


2 posted on 01/06/2011 1:55:06 PM PST by Frantzie (Slaves do not have freedom only the illusion of freedom & their cable TV to drool at)
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To: SunkenCiv

Companion piece ping.


3 posted on 01/06/2011 1:55:21 PM PST by decimon
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To: decimon

Well....yeah. It got cold and there’s such a thing as shrinkage. Even the cave men got it. :)


4 posted on 01/06/2011 1:55:36 PM PST by lovecraft (Specialization is for insects.)
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To: decimon

This is gonna be fun...


5 posted on 01/06/2011 1:58:05 PM PST by Leo Farnsworth (I'm not really Leo Farnsworth.)
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To: decimon
, meaning humans spent a considerable amount of time without body hair and without clothing,

hairy man beast

I guess this guy didn't get the memo.

6 posted on 01/06/2011 1:58:15 PM PST by dragonblustar ("... and if you disagree with me, then you sir, are worse than Hitler!" - Greg Gutfeld)
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To: decimon

We know that the Flintstones wore clothes.


7 posted on 01/06/2011 1:58:29 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: decimon

No way in the world to figure that out from lice DNA


8 posted on 01/06/2011 1:58:40 PM PST by GeronL (How DARE you have an opinion!!)
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To: lovecraft

Chestnuts shrinking in an open cave, Jack Frost laughing at your clothes.


9 posted on 01/06/2011 1:59:24 PM PST by JPG (YES SHE CAN!)
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To: decimon
My own careful research also confirms these important findings.


10 posted on 01/06/2011 2:00:35 PM PST by FormerACLUmember (Character is defined by how we treat those who society says have no value.)
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To: GeronL
“No way in the world to figure that out from lice DNA”

Uh, yes - IF it was lice DNA from a member of anyone BUT the Hugh Hefner or Lady Gaga Clan...then it would have been NEGATIVE for clothes...

11 posted on 01/06/2011 2:01:20 PM PST by Leo Farnsworth (I'm not really Leo Farnsworth.)
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To: Frantzie
They probably wore stupid blue and orange UF Gator colors

Beats wearing Garnet and Gold.

12 posted on 01/06/2011 2:01:44 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: decimon
Can they use DNA to determine when politicians branched off from the rest of the louse genus?
13 posted on 01/06/2011 2:04:44 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Washington is finally rid of the Kennedies. Free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last.)
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To: decimon

What about the migration of Homo Erectus some 500,000+ years ago? Peking and the South Urals must have been chilly?


14 posted on 01/06/2011 2:04:54 PM PST by JimSEA
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To: dfwgator

LOL! Boy ain’t that the truth.


15 posted on 01/06/2011 2:08:58 PM PST by Frantzie (Slaves do not have freedom only the illusion of freedom & their cable TV to drool at)
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To: JimSEA

[ The study also shows humans started wearing clothes well after they lost body hair, which genetic skin-coloration research pinpoints at about 1 million years ago, meaning humans spent a considerable amount of time without body hair and without clothing, Reed said. ]

More support of the Aquatic Human Origin Hypothesis.


16 posted on 01/06/2011 2:11:14 PM PST by GraceG
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To: decimon

I could not find mention of lice in the pubic hair. Did I miss that important fact?


17 posted on 01/06/2011 2:13:13 PM PST by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: decimon

“Humans” using the term very loosely.


18 posted on 01/06/2011 2:13:41 PM PST by BenLurkin (This post is not a statement of fact. It is merely a personal opinion -- or humor -- or both)
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To: decimon
designer

DNA test confirms link to Lauren Empire.

19 posted on 01/06/2011 2:16:08 PM PST by Islander7 (If you want to anger conservatives, lie to them. If you want to anger liberals, tell them the truth.)
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To: decimon

You bet we did. And I still have that same pair of jeans.


20 posted on 01/06/2011 2:17:16 PM PST by Billthedrill
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