freeasabird Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Was just wondering if scientists yet had any consensus on how far back in time this happened. I'm curious whether this is speculated to be the "first cause" which started our divergence from the rest of the primates or whether it came much later, say within the last 500-750k years. Also, how does this happen technically speaking? That is to say, presumably mother and father both give 24 pairs, the change occurs at conception and one or more offspring produce 46 total chromosomes. Am I on the right track? Could the offspring at that time only have mated with it's siblings whom also have 46 chromosomes, or do scientists think this could have happened across multiple sets of parents at the same time? I assume that two individuals, one with 46 and one with 48 could not mate, correct? Thanks for any answers you can provide, I'm really fascinated by this branch of science but I know very little about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Ken Miller, professor of biology (I think) at Brown University, is an expert witness in cases involving intelligent design and creationism--where schools want to teach them in relation to evolution. If you go to his website and send e-mail to him, he may be able to answer your question. He brought up this point about chromosome 2 in his testimony during trial over public school in Dover Co, PA. I think he is the best source of info on this subject. BTW: He is not an atheist and very much Catholic. I mention his religion because some people have the idea that only atheists are trying to keep non-science (nonsense?) out of science classes. http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/ This is a quote from his website about Miller: In September 2005, Ken Miller, a Brown University biologist, took the witness stand during a lawsuit known as Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District. The plaintiffs, a group of parents in Dover, Pennsylvania, objected to “intelligent design” being required to be presented as an scientific alternative to evolution. Miller, the first expert witness called by the plaintiffs, showed that the key claims made by advocates of intelligent design are false. The plaintiffs won the case, and the people of Dover voted out the members of the Dover board of education who had pushed through the intelligent design requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I suspect no one knows when they fused. There's no DNA that old to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeasabird Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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