First Americans Arrived Recently, Settled Pacific Coast, DNA Study Says

National Geographic ^ | 2-2-2007 | Stefan Lovgren

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[Man50D]

A study of the oldest known sample of human DNA in the Americas suggests that humans arrived in the New World relatively recently, around 15,000 years ago.

The report fails to reveal they came through the porous Mexican border.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[xcamel]

So, by one tooth they have this "great epiphany" ??

[LasVegasMac]

A study of the oldest known sample of human DNA in the Americas suggests that humans arrived in the New World relatively recently, around 15,000 years ago.

Finally, a clue as to the identity of the schmuck that started glo-bull warming.

[blam]

"So, by one tooth they have this "great epiphany" ??"

I don't think they have enough data to make such a conclusive decision.

[xcamel]

NG has a really bad habbit of seeing the entire world in any old grain of sand

[From many - one.]

Unless I'm missing something, it seems as if this represents one group of early Americans, not necessarily the first.

[Coyoteman]

So, by one tooth they have this "great epiphany" ??

It so happens that teeth are excellent places in which to preserve mtDNA.

ps. I have a similar sample, dated to 5300 years ago, that shows the same pattern of coastal migration discussed in the article. Its a different haplogroup though! And it also was from a tooth.

[xcamel]

"What's a Geico?"

[blam]

Atlas Of The Human Journey

Go to this site and click on Genetic Markers, quite interesting. They also map the haplogroup A and say it originated about 50k years ago.

[blam]

I find it interesting that Cheddar Man(UK) is in the same ,U5, haplogroup as the Sa'ami.

[Coyoteman]

Some of the details need updating already. Things are moving very rapidly now in this field.

Here is a good graphic of the mtDNA data from this article. This is the On Your Knees Cave lineage:

See also this article from a couple of years ago:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050824/news_lz1c24tooth.html.

[RunningWolf]

I don't think they have enough data to make such a conclusive decision.

btt

[norton]

I'm really confused by the article:
Either the rate of mutation was much faster than generally accepted, OR, the author is stuck on a 15,000 year time line and assumes that it is evolution/mutation that varied (greatly) and not his concept of when the human record bagan in the Americas.
The rest of the piece seems merely to brag about the importance of his line of inquiry.
When the results are perfectly ambiguous, I'm not too sure about the value of the inquiry.

Wrong?

[blam]

"I'm really confused by the article:"

Click on the link provided by Coyoteman in post #14...maybe that article will help.

[Bernard Marx]

NG has a really bad habbit of seeing the entire world in any old grain of sand

LOL! Could not agree more. The magazine's been laughable since it got into the environmental/political correctness/global warming business. I canceled my subscription years ago.

[Marysecretary]

Yeah, makes you wonder, doesn't it???

[Verginius Rufus]

This makes sense. They liked the west coast, surfing, the parties on the beach, the laid-back lifestyle. Why cross mountains and deserts to get to where? Tornado Alley?