Sydney, Feb. 4: The father of the theory 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 on 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 Nean-derthals," he said.
Mr Wells, director of the Genographic Project, which mapped the migratory history of the human species, 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 his "deep ancestry" showed his forefathers left Africa 45,000 years ago, splitting into a new lineage 5,000 years later in Iran or southern Central Asia, Mr Wells said. The next mutation appeared 35,000 years ago.
Chris Darwin, whose great-grandfather was Darwin’s astronomer son George, is a tour guide and adventurer in 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 rugged Caucasus Mountains to reach the steppes of the Black Sea. —AFP