We slowly molecular clock

Human generations long and all other existing apes than human reproduction is slow. Human needs approximately twice the chimpanzees and gorillas to develop to sexual maturity, we average 20 years of breeding, whereas the chimpanzee is just 15 years. Growth retardation is one of the characteristics of the part. A new study suggests that we long multiply time might be a recently evolved.

Georgia Tech College of evolutionary geneticists Soojin Yi and his colleagues, to humans and chimpanzees and other apes of the evolution of the molecular clock comparisons, came to this conclusion. Molecular clock refers to a specific species mutation rate of occurrence. Because most mutations occur in the manufacture of new egg and sperm, generations long species, its molecular clock should be slower. Recently on the chimpanzee genome sequencing, give us a great opportunity to test this hypothesis.

Research fellow at the human and chimpanzee genomes of about 6300 million base pairs, as well as from the Baboon, gorillas and orangutans of some short genomic fragments to be compared. The papers published in this week's Journal of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States "Network Edition. Research shows that human molecular clock is slower than the gorillas of approximately 11%, but their molecular clock is slower than the gorillas of 8%.

Humans and chimpanzees in the molecular clock on the tiny difference, and they are the generation time compared to the huge difference is clearly disproportionate. From here, the research group projections, modern people so long generation time probably in 100 years ago began to evolve. The estimates and evidence of ancient human learning. For example, in Kenya found that 150 million years ago of Homo erectus tooth development study shows, it's time to sexual maturation facially. But found in Spain of 80 million years ago of the original human specimen of teeth, only show a more typical characteristics of modern people.

From New York Institute of human genetics Hunter's Michael Steiper believes that "for the understanding of the molecular evolution of primates, this is a very exciting development. "But from Pennsylvania State University's evolutionary biologist Blair Hedges believes that generations may just many regulatory molecular clock.

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