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Ancestral traits, parental populations, and hybrids
Author(s) -
Pollitzer William S.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330300312
Subject(s) - inbreeding , inheritance (genetic algorithm) , population , genealogy , hybrid , biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , geography , demography , history , sociology , genetics , gene , computer science , botany , artificial intelligence
The distance traveled over the centuries by any human population is a rocky road; the fusion of the paths of two meandering populations often leads to an even rougher one. Tracing such a wayward child of history back to its long‐lost parents presents complex problems for the physical anthropologist. For those parents may share unequally in their legacy to their offspring at the start of the journey. Many genes may disappear into the gutters of genetic drift; some byways may stop at the barricades of selection; fresh migrants may join by side roads to swell the stream; and inbreeding may narrow the roadbed. Searching for the genes that the hybrid population holds in common with alleged parents provides one clue to the relative role of the ancestors. Comparison of measurements of the living hybrid with the nearest known relatives of the presumed parents yields another clue. Resuscitation of ancestors from their bones and teeth supplies yet another link. Distinctive features of such skeletal remains are most valuable where their inheritance is understood. Bones may yield another clue from substances left within them of known genetic control. And finally all the evidence of history, every glimpse caught of the population along the route, gives knowledge of the contribution of the forebears to the living people. The ideal estimate will utilize a wide variety of information about the known groups.