揭祕：達爾文的祖先爲克魯馬努人
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.
科學家於本週四在澳大利亞揭祕：進化論之父查爾斯•達爾文是（舊石器時代）克魯馬努人的直系後代。克魯馬努人於3萬年前遷徙至歐洲，他們的進入標誌着尼安德特人的消亡。
據系譜學家斯賓塞•威爾斯介紹，達爾文是歐洲最常見的父系之一、單倍羣R1b種族的後裔。達爾文在1859年出版的著名進化論著作《物種起源》中提出了“所有人類都是由共同祖先進化而來”的假設。
威爾斯說：“單倍羣R1b種族中的男性是克魯馬努人的直系後代。克魯馬努人於3萬年前進入歐洲，並主宰了人類向歐洲遷徙的進程，他們的出現標誌着尼安德特人種的消亡。”
威爾斯稱，他們從達爾文48歲的玄孫、居住在悉尼郊區的克里斯•達爾文身上提取了DNA樣本。威爾斯是以揭示人類遷徙史爲目的的國際研究項目“基因地理項目”的負責人。
據他介紹，對達爾文“遙遠祖先”的追溯發現，他的祖先在大約4萬5千年前離開非洲，並於5千年之後在伊朗或中亞地區南部分化出了一支新的世系。
他說：“在他們西遷至歐洲之前，大約3萬5千年前，下一代物種突變出現在種族羣體的個體中，標誌着一個新世系的形成。”
他還說：“英格蘭南部約70%的男性都是單倍羣R1b種族的後裔。在西班牙和愛爾蘭的部分地區，這一比例甚至超過90%。”
克里斯•達爾文是悉尼西部藍山地區的一名導遊和冒險家。他的曾祖父是達爾文的兒子、天文學家喬治•達爾文。
克里斯於1986年移居澳大利亞。對他的母系DNA的檢測顯示，他可能是穿越俄羅斯南部崎嶇的高加索山脈，抵達黑海附近大草原的女性的後代。
威爾斯在“基因地理項目”的年度科學研討會召開之前公佈了上述發現，來自11個地區的科研小組的代表們來到悉尼討論他們的研究。
目前共有26.5萬人參與基因地理項目。該項目由《國家地理》雜誌、IBM公司和總部位於加利福尼亞的韋特家庭基金會共同發起。
Vocabulary:
demise: termination of existence or operation（終止，失敗）
seminal：highly original and influencing the development of future events（影響深遠的，有重大意義的）
lineage：the line of descendants of a particular ancestor; family; race（血統，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（生物物種的突變）
steppe：the vast grasslands, esp. those in the S and E European and W and SW Asian parts of Russia（尤指東南歐及西伯利亞樹少的大草原，乾草原）
