# Who's our daddy (and mommy)? Last human identical ancestors point? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936 "2012-12-04T05:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936/21 "2012-12-05T00:09:17Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I know what it is, and it was linked to early in this thread. > > No, it’s not. I believe this work was done before the Neanderthal genetic data was known, and if we do ignore it, there is no reason that the identical ancestor point has to be \> 75k years ago. Where are you getting that from? Who would you posit, for example, as the the identical ancestor to a member of the Mbuti tribe, an indiginous Australian, and a European who could possible have lived less than 75K ago? Just how much mobile hankipankiness do you think is suggested by, for instance, the mitochondrial DNA lines? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936/22 "2012-12-05T00:15:27Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I don’t understand how this: . . . follows from this:Just because humans moved out of Africa doesn’t mean that a wall of separation came down around the continent. There was always leakage across the Sinai and around the coasts. > > Granted, for most of human history people who lived in China weren’t mating with people who lived in South Africa. But Chinese mated with central Asians who mated with Arabians who mated with north Africans who mated with central Africans who mated with south Africans. Over hundreds of generations a Chinese could easily become ancestral to an African, or even to every African. Or the reverse. Are you able to link to any references such as mitochondrial or other DNA studies that suggest this? I am aware that it is technically (remotely) possible in recent times, but I’m not aware this sort of genetic admixture has been shown to be the case. In fact, just the opposite (in, for instance, Oppenheimers Out of Eden book which goes through some of the genetic lines). ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936/23 "2012-12-05T02:13:38Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Your professor needs to do a little more research. He is a PhD in Anthropology and is well respected in his field. I think he is good on his research. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936/24 "2012-12-05T02:47:03Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Who would you posit, for example, as the the identical ancestor to a member of the Mbuti tribe, an indiginous Australian, and a European who could possible have lived less than 75K ago? It could be any number of individuals. Even if no European ever mated with someone in the Mbuti tribe, a European could have mated with someone in a neighboring tribe 600 years ago, and those genes flowed into the tribe. > [@](#): > > Just how much mobile hankipankiness do you think is suggested by, for instance, the mitochondrial DNA lines? When you read about mtDNA, you are reading about averages, not the full extent of every individual in a given population. And it tells you nothing about a long line of mating that has even just one one male in it, breaking the mtDNA line. But I’m not sure what technology you think we have that lets us determine the identical ancestor point without the use of computer modeling. How far back do you think we can analyze two people’s DNA and determine their familial relatedness? How far back do you think you have to go in your family tree before you encounter an ancestor who has not contributed even one gene to your genome? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936/25 "2012-12-05T12:30:03Z")
John, I’m traveling this AM but will post later today. I want to make sure you are not confusing “identical ancestors point” with “most recent common ancestor.” I am by no means any sort of expert, and this is the (fine?) point I’m trying to parse out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-our-daddy-and-mommy-last-human-identical-ancestors-point/642936.md?page=1)