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Related Experiment Videos

A recent common ancestry for human Y chromosomes

M F Hammer1

  • 1Laboratory of Molecular Systematics and Evolution, Biosciences West, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA.

Nature
|November 23, 1995
PubMed
Summary

Studies of human origins reveal the Y chromosome shows reduced variation. This research found no evidence of recent strong selection, estimating a common human Y chromosome ancestor 188,000 years ago.

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Area of Science:

  • Human evolutionary genetics
  • Population genetics
  • Molecular anthropology

Background:

  • The male-specific Y chromosome is crucial for tracing human origins.
  • Reduced nucleotide variation on the Y chromosome suggests possible recent strong selection.
  • This reduced variation could be due to the fixation of a single Y chromosome haplotype.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate patterns of nucleotide variation on the human Y chromosome.
  • To test the hypothesis of a recent selective sweep on the Y chromosome.
  • To estimate the coalescence time of the human Y chromosome.

Main Methods:

  • Sequencing of a 2.6-kilobase fragment from human and chimpanzee Y chromosomes.
  • Analysis of nucleotide sequence diversity and divergence.
  • Comparison of Y chromosome data with autosomal and mitochondrial DNA studies.

Main Results:

  • No evidence for a recent, strong selective sweep on the human Y chromosome was found.
  • The estimated time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of the human Y chromosome is 188,000 years (95% CI: 51,000–411,000 years).
  • Results align with estimates of long-term human effective population size and sex ratio from other genetic studies.

Conclusions:

  • The observed Y chromosome variation is not explained by a recent selective sweep.
  • The estimated TMRCA supports a model of recent human origins rather than widespread archaic transformation.
  • Findings contradict predictions of the multiregional hypothesis for human evolution.

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