Thursday, March 24, 2011

Mitochondrial Eve

This is what Mitochondrial Eve is thought to look like:


 The organelle mitochondria is known to come completely from the mother lineage.  As it goes down a family tree the mitochondria never changes unless via mutation.  It is thought that if traced back far enough that the origin of the mitochondria could have come from a woman in what is now modern day Africa.  From here is where all the different "tribes" separated and diversified the human race.

Here are 5 examples:

Light skinned people who went to what is now Europe and lost their skin color:



Dark skinned people who lived near the equator:

Asians:


Native Americans (thought to have entered the Americas by using the land bridge)


Indians (Tend to get darker the closer to the equator they reside)