Chhattisgarh PMT Chhattisgarh PMT Solved Paper-2006

  • question_answer
    There are two opposing views about origin of modem man. According to one view. Homo erectus in Asia were the ancestors of Modern man. A study of variations of DNA however suggested African origin of Modern man. What kind of observation on DNA variation could suggest this?

    A)  Greater variation in Africa than in Asia

    B)  Variation only in Asia and no variation in Africa

    C)  Greater variation in Asia than in Africa

    D)  Similar variation in Africa and Asia

    Correct Answer: A

    Solution :

    There are two models about origin of modem man (Homo sapiens sapiens)- [a] Multiregional model-According to this view, modern humans evolved in many parts of the world from regional descendants of Homo erectus, who dispersed from Africa between 1 and 2 million years ago. [b] Monogenesis model-According to this model, only African descendents of Homo erectus gave rise to modern humans. In late 1980s, Rebecca Cann and other geneticists supported this view on the basis of DNA of living humans. They compared the mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) of a multiathenic sample of more than 100 people representing four continents. The greater the difference between mt DNAs diverged from a common source. By using bioinformatics, they concluded that the divergence of mt DNA of Africans from common source began just 200,000 years ago, much to late to represent the disper- sal of Homo erectus. Thus there are greater variation in Asia than in Africa.


You need to login to perform this action.
You will be redirected in 3 sec spinner