Australian Aboriginal DNA Suggests 70,000-Year History 228
brindafella writes with a link to an abstract at the journal Science that says "Scientists have obtained a DNA genomic sequence from a 100-year-old, voluntarily donated hair sample from a full-blood Australian Aboriginal man. [Analysis of the hair] shows 'Aboriginal Australians are descendants of an early human dispersal into eastern Asia, possibly 62,000 to 75,000 years ago. This dispersal is separate from the one that gave rise to modern Asians 25,000 to 38,000 years ago. ... [Their] findings support the hypothesis that present-day Aboriginal Australians descend from the earliest humans to occupy Australia, likely representing one of the oldest continuous populations outside Africa.' A news story gives more detail."
first... (Score:3, Funny)
CORRECTION (Score:0, Funny)
I sent this post over to some Creation Scientists and they corrected the obvious errors. Here's their story:
'Aboriginal Australians are descendants of an early human dispersal into eastern Asia, possibly 6,000 to 6,000 years ago. This dispersal is separate from the one that gave rise to modern Asians 6,000 to 6,000 years ago'
Re:evolution (Score:3, Funny)
Re:first... (Score:5, Funny)
That's a bummer. When do you think you'll have some in?
Re:Wow (Score:4, Funny)
There's at least some limited evidence of modern behaviors in Africa something around 70,000 years ago. You're a few decades out of date here. In particular see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klasies_River_Caves [wikipedia.org]
I think timelines are still fuzzy enough to suggest that modern behaviors evolved in Africa itself.
Well surely you need _some_ kind of language to be able to say to a bunch of your friends : "Hey! Fancy going on a beach trip ... to Australia?".