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Human evolution

Pedigrees for all humanity

Simulations based on a model of human population history and geography find that an individual that is the genealogical ancestor of all living humans existed just a few thousand years ago.

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Figure 1: Searching for our universal common ancestor.

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Hein, J. Pedigrees for all humanity. Nature 431, 518–519 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/431518a

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