Ancient mystery

[pinstripers]

http://news.yahoo.com/why-did-ancient-europeans-just-disappear-14-500-162246814.ht

Judging by the photos, I'd say they died.

[Kung Wu]

Hahahah

[ShockBand]

They need a little meat on their bones. Supermodel syndrome?

[wufan]

The large mamallian extinction that occurred at the end of the last ice age is a total mystery. What's almost a certainty is that it wasn't caused by humans crossing the betting straight ice bridge. The extinction was global.

[pinstripers]

smog?

[wufan]

smog?

Irresponsible deforestation.

[Shocker-maniac]

There is a huge glaring error in this article:

"To get a better picture of Europe's genetic legacy during this cold snap, Posth and his colleagues analyzed mitochondrial DNA — genetic material passed on from mother to daughter — from the remains of 55 different human fossils between 35,000 and 7,000 years old, coming from across the continent, from Spain to Russia. Based on mutations, or changes in this mitochondrial DNA, geneticists have identified large genetic populations, or super-haplogroups, that share distant common ancestors." (Emphasis added)

While it is true that mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited, the mother passes it to all of her offspring not just female offspring. If the mother did not pass it on to her male children, there would be no males in the world. Basically all of the cells in the male offspring would starve to death because the mitochondria converts food to ATP to give energy to the cells in the body.

[pinstripers]

as I wuz sayin......

[wufan]

There is a huge glaring error in this article:

"To get a better picture of Europe's genetic legacy during this cold snap, Posth and his colleagues analyzed mitochondrial DNA — genetic material passed on from mother to daughter — from the remains of 55 different human fossils between 35,000 and 7,000 years old, coming from across the continent, from Spain to Russia. Based on mutations, or changes in this mitochondrial DNA, geneticists have identified large genetic populations, or super-haplogroups, that share distant common ancestors." (Emphasis added)

While it is true that mitochondrial DNA is maternally inherited, the mother passes it to all of her offspring not just female offspring. If the mother did not pass it on to her male children, there would be no males in the world. Basically all of the cells in the male offspring would starve to death because the mitochondria converts food to ATP to give energy to the cells in the body.

It's not an error...it's an incomplete statement. Besides that, the fact that it's passed on to males is totally irrelevant because males don't pass it to their offspring. Because the inheritance is maternal in nature, the only fact that matters is that it is passed from mother to daughter...I.e. every male offspring is a genetic dead end.

[Kung Wu]

smog?

He was certainly a ruthless leader as far as cavemen go, but I don't think Smog could have killed them all.

[Shocker-maniac]

It's not an error...it's an incomplete statement. Besides that, the fact that it's passed on to males is totally irrelevant because males don't pass it to their offspring. Because the inheritance is maternal in nature, the only fact that matters is that it is passed from mother to daughter...I.e. every male offspring is a genetic dead end.

Error versus incomplete statement is just arguing semantics. Either way it is an inaccurate statement. Whether one is male or female, you can determine your maternal genetic history by unraveling the mitochondrial DNA code. But yes it does dead-end with males.