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The father of evolution Charles Darwin was a direct descendant of the
Cro-Magnon people, whose entry into Europe 30,000 years ago heralded the demise
of Neanderthals, scientists revealed in Australia Thursday.
Darwin, who hypothesised that all humans evolved from common ancestors in
his seminal 1859 work "On the Origin of Species", came from Haplogroup R1b, one
of the most common European male lineages, said genealogist Spencer Wells.
"Men belonging to Haplogroup R1b are direct descendants of the Cro-Magnon
people who, beginning 30,000 years ago, dominated the human expansion into
Europe and heralded the demise of the Neanderthal species," Wells said.
Director of the Genographic Project, an international study mapping the
migratory history of the human species, Wells said they took a DNA sample from
Darwin's great-great grandson Chris Darwin, 48, who lives on the outskirts of
Sydney.
A trace of Darwin's "deep ancestry" showed his forefathers left Africa
around 45,000 years ago, splitting into a new lineage 5,000 years later in Iran
or southern Central Asia, Wells said.
"Before heading west towards Europe, the next mutation, which defined a new
lineage, appeared in a man around 35,000 years ago,' he said.
"Approximately 70 percent of men in southern England belong to Haplogroup
R1b, and in parts of Ireland and Spain that number exceeds 90 percent", he
added.
Chris Darwin, whose great-grandfather was Darwin's astronomer son George,
is a tour guide and adventurer in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
He migrated to Australia in 1986 and tests of his maternal DNA showed he
was likely directly descended from the women who crossed the rugged Caucasus
Mountains in southern Russia to reach the steppes of the Black Sea.
Wells was presenting the findings ahead of the project's annual scientific
conference, bringing together representatives from 11 regional teams to discuss
their work in Sydney.
There are currently 265,000 members of the public taking part in the
project, which is an initiative of National Geographic, IBM and the
California-based Waitt Family Foundation charity.
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