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 A file photo of Charles Darwin. The father of evolution Charles Darwin was a direct descendant of the Cro-Magnon people, scientists revealed in Australia Thursday.
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The father of evolution Charles Darwin was a direct descendant of the Cro-Magnon people, whose entry into Europe 30,000 years ago heralded the demise of Neanderthals, scientists revealed in Australia Thursday. Darwin, who hypothesised that all humans evolved from common ancestors in his seminal 1859 work "On the Origin of Species", came from Haplogroup R1b, one of the most common European male lineages, said genealogist Spencer Wells. "Men belonging to Haplogroup R1b are direct descendants of the Cro-Magnon people who, beginning 30,000 years ago, dominated the human expansion into Europe and heralded the demise of the Neanderthal species," Wells said. Director of the Genographic Project, an international study mapping the migratory history of the human species, Wells said they took a DNA sample from Darwin's great-great grandson Chris Darwin, 48, who lives on the outskirts of Sydney. A trace of Darwin's "deep ancestry" showed his forefathers left Africa around 45,000 years ago, splitting into a new lineage 5,000 years later in Iran or southern Central Asia, Wells said. "Before heading west towards Europe, the next mutation, which defined a new lineage, appeared in a man around 35,000 years ago,' he said. "Approximately 70 percent of men in southern England belong to Haplogroup R1b, and in parts of Ireland and Spain that number exceeds 90 percent", he added. Chris Darwin, whose great-grandfather was Darwin's astronomer son George, is a tour guide and adventurer in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. He migrated to Australia in 1986 and tests of his maternal DNA showed he was likely directly descended from the women who crossed the rugged Caucasus Mountains in southern Russia to reach the steppes of the Black Sea. Wells was presenting the findings ahead of the project's annual scientific conference, bringing together representatives from 11 regional teams to discuss their work in Sydney. There are currently 265,000 members of the public taking part in the project, which is an initiative of National Geographic, IBM and the California-based Waitt Family Foundation charity. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.) 点击查看更多双语新闻
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科学家于本周四在澳大利亚揭秘：进化论之父查尔斯•达尔文是（旧石器时代）克鲁马努人的直系后代。克鲁马努人于3万年前迁徙至欧洲，他们的进入标志着尼安德特人的消亡。 据系谱学家斯宾塞•威尔斯介绍，达尔文是欧洲最常见的父系之一、单倍群R1b种族的后裔。达尔文在1859年出版的著名进化论著作《物种起源》中提出了“所有人类都是由共同祖先进化而来”的假设。 威尔斯说：“单倍群R1b种族中的男性是克鲁马努人的直系后代。克鲁马努人于3万年前进入欧洲，并主宰了人类向欧洲迁徙的进程，他们的出现标志着尼安德特人种的消亡。” 威尔斯称，他们从达尔文48岁的玄孙、居住在悉尼郊区的克里斯•达尔文身上提取了DNA样本。威尔斯是以揭示人类迁徙史为目的的国际研究项目“基因地理项目”的负责人。 据他介绍，对达尔文“遥远祖先”的追溯发现，他的祖先在大约4万5千年前离开非洲，并于5千年之后在伊朗或中亚地区南部分化出了一支新的世系。 他说：“在他们西迁至欧洲之前，大约3万5千年前，下一代物种突变出现在种族群体的个体中，标志着一个新世系的形成。” 他还说：“英格兰南部约70%的男性都是单倍群R1b种族的后裔。在西班牙和爱尔兰的部分地区，这一比例甚至超过90%。” 克里斯•达尔文是悉尼西部蓝山地区的一名导游和冒险家。他的曾祖父是达尔文的儿子、天文学家乔治•达尔文。 克里斯于1986年移居澳大利亚。对他的母系DNA的检测显示，他可能是穿越俄罗斯南部崎岖的高加索山脉，抵达黑海附近大草原的女性的后代。 威尔斯在“基因地理项目”的年度科学研讨会召开之前公布了上述发现，来自11个地区的科研小组的代表们来到悉尼讨论他们的研究。 目前共有26.5万人参与基因地理项目。该项目由《国家地理》杂志、IBM公司和总部位于加利福尼亚的韦特家庭基金会共同发起。 相关阅读 （中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑蔡姗姗） |
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Vocabulary: demise: termination of existence or operation（终止，失败） seminal：highly original and influencing the development of future events（影响深远的，有重大意义的） lineage：the line of descendants of a particular ancestor; family; race（血统，世系） mutation：a sudden departure from the parent type in one or more heritable characteristics, caused by a change in a gene or a chromosome（生物物种的突变） steppe：the vast grasslands, esp. those in the S and E European and W and SW Asian parts of Russia（尤指东南欧及西伯利亚树少的大草原，干草原） |
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