Y-chromosomal Adam

Haplogroup Y-MRCA
Possible time of origin300,000-160,000 BP [1][2]
Possible place of originCoastal Central-Northwest Africa [3]
AncestorAnte
Descendantsprimary: A

In human genetics, the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living humans are descended. He is the most recent male from whom all living humans are descended through an unbroken line of their male ancestors. The term Y-MRCA reflects the fact that the Y chromosomes of all currently living human males are directly derived from the Y chromosome of this remote ancestor. The analogous concept of the matrilineal most recent common ancestor is known as "Mitochondrial Eve" (mt-MRCA, named for the matrilineal transmission of mtDNA), the most recent woman from whom all living humans are descended matrilineally. As with "Mitochondrial Eve", the title of "Y-chromosomal Adam" is not permanently fixed to a single individual, but can advance over the course of human history as paternal lineages become extinct.

Estimates of the time when Y-MRCA lived have also shifted as modern knowledge of human ancestry changes. For example, in 2013, the discovery of a previously unknown Y-chromosomal haplogroup was announced,[4] which resulted in a slight adjustment of the estimated age of the human Y-MRCA.[5]

By definition, it is not necessary that the Y-MRCA and the mt-MRCA should have lived at the same time.[6] While estimates as of 2014 suggested the possibility that the two individuals may well have been roughly contemporaneous,[7] the discovery of the archaic Y-haplogroup has pushed back the estimated age of the Y-MRCA beyond the most likely age of the mt-MRCA. As of 2015, estimates of the age of the Y-MRCA range around 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, roughly consistent with the emergence of anatomically modern humans.[2]

Y-chromosomal data taken from a Neanderthal from El Sidrón, Spain, produced a Y-T-MRCA (time to Y-MRCA) of 588,000 years ago for Neanderthal and Homo sapiens patrilineages, dubbed ante Adam, and 275,000 years ago for Y-MRCA.[8]

  1. ^ Elhaik E, Tatarinova TV, Klyosov AA, Graur D (2014). "The 'extremely ancient' chromosome that isn't: a forensic bioinformatic investigation of Albert Perry's X-degenerate portion of the Y chromosome". European Journal of Human Genetics. 22 (9): 1111–16. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2013.303. PMC 4135414. PMID 24448544.
  2. ^ a b Karmin; et al. (2015). "A recent bottleneck of Y chromosome diversity coincides with a global change in culture". Genome Research. 25 (4): 459–66. doi:10.1101/gr.186684.114. PMC 4381518. PMID 25770088. "we date the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) in Africa at 254 (95% CI 192–307) kya and detect a cluster of major non-African founder haplogroups in a narrow time interval at 47–52 kya, consistent with a rapid initial colonization model of Eurasia and Oceania after the out-of-Africa bottleneck. In contrast to demographic reconstructions based on mtDNA, we infer a second strong bottleneck in Y-chromosome lineages dating to the last 10 ky. We hypothesize that this bottleneck is caused by cultural changes affecting variance of reproductive success among males."
  3. ^ In a sample of 2204 African Y-chromosomes, 8 chromosomes belonged to either haplogroup A1b or A1a. Haplogroup A1a was identified in two Moroccan Berbers, one Fulbe, and one Tuareg person from Niger. Haplogroup A1b was identified in three Bakola pygmies from Southern Cameroon and one Algerian Berber. Cruciani et al. 2011
  4. ^ Mendez, Fernando; Krahn, Thomas; Schrack, Bonnie; Krahn, Astrid-Maria; Veeramah, Krishna; Woerner, August; Fomine, Forka Leypey Mathew; Bradman, Neil; Thomas, Mark; Karafet, Tatiana M.; Hammer, Michael F. (7 March 2013). "An African American paternal lineage adds an extremely ancient root to the human Y chromosome phylogenetic tree" (PDF). American Journal of Human Genetics. 92 (3): 454–59. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.02.002. PMC 3591855. PMID 23453668. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2013. (primary source)
  5. ^ "The 'extremely ancient' chromosome that isn't: a forensic bioinformatic investigation of Albert Perry's X-degenerate portion of the Y chromosome". European Journal of Human Genetics. 22 (9): 1111–16. 2014. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2013.303. PMC 4135414. PMID 24448544. 'Y-Chromosomal Adam Lived 208,300 Years Ago, Says New Study' , Sci-News.com, 23 January 2014.
  6. ^ Dawkins (2005-09-02). The Ancestor's Tale. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780618619160. Blaine Bettinger (20 July 2007). "Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam". The Genetic Genealogist.
  7. ^ Cann RL (2013). "Genetics. Y weigh in again on modern humans". Science. 341 (6145): 465–67. Bibcode:2013Sci...341..465C. doi:10.1126/science.1242899. PMID 23908212. S2CID 206550892.
  8. ^ Mendez, L.; et al. (2016). "The Divergence of Neandertal and Modern Human Y Chromosomes". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 98 (4): 728–34. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.02.023. PMC 4833433. PMID 27058445.