Most recent common ancestor

The most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of any set of organisms

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is the most recent individual which is an ancestor of all of them. The term is most frequently used of humans. A recent article by Douglas Rohde, Steve Olson, and Joseph Chang, "Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans", suggests that the MRCA of all humans now living was a human within historical times (3000 BC - AD 1000), while other studies suggest the MRCA of those living in Western civilizations is as recent as AD 1000. The same article provides surprisingly recent estimates for the identical ancestors point, the most recent time when each person then living was either an ancestor of all the people alive today or an ancestor of none of the people alive today.

Related Topics:
Douglas Rohde - Steve Olson - Joseph Chang - 3000 BC - AD 1000

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The "most recent common ancestor" accounts for lines of descent including both sexes; comparable notions such as Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam account for either a purely matrilineal line or a purely patrilineal line, traceable through only uniparental inheritance (mitochondrial DNA for matrilineal inheritance or Y-chromosome-DNA for patrilineal inheritance), and so yield common ancestors that are more ancient. (Hartwell 2004:539)

Related Topics:
Mitochondrial Eve - Y-chromosomal Adam - Uniparental inheritance - Mitochondrial DNA - Y-chromosome

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It is possible to use established mutation rates as a basis for calculating an estimate of the time since the most recent common paternal or maternal ancestor of any two individuals for which a genealogical DNA test has been performed.

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The MRCA does not imply any sort of population bottleneck or first couple. The MRCA of everyone alive today co-existed with a large human population, most of whom either have no living descendants today or else are ancestors of almost everyone alive today.

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