|
 |
"Kissing Cousins: The Numbers Show We're All One Big Happy Family," by Ana Berlin. The Sciences, September/October 1999, page 9.
This article discusses a newly developed mathematical model of geneaology. Most such models rely on the fact that, counting n generations back, each person has 2n ancestors. The new model takes into account the fact that, because human populations long ago were small, matings often took place between relatives. One therefore finds that two randomly chosen people alive today are likely to have a common ancestor---provided one looks sufficiently far back in their family trees. The new model, the article says, has "important applications for evolutionary biologists and population geneticists."
--- Allyn Jackson
 |
Comments: Email Webmaster |
