werner@aecom.YU.EDU (Craig Werner) (10/14/87)
Having seen some of the technical references, let me address what the scientific point that is trying to be made. The speciation in question is Homo sapiens sapiens from Homo sapiens archaic (extinct, poss. several species) The postulate is that if sapiens developed as a separate subspecies and then interbred with existing archaic sapiens, there would be different lines of maternal descent. If instead, modern sapiens supplanted archaic sapiens, then one would be able to account for all Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms by means of a single tree. As it happens, the latter can be done, so that Homo sapiens sapiens (which is we) spread throughout the world by migration and supplantation rather than outbreeding with indigenous populations. -- Craig Werner (future MD/PhD, 3 years down, 4 to go) werner@aecom.YU.EDU -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) "Well that's my story, not that it matters..."