Most Recent Common Ancestor Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Most Recent Common Ancestor?
The Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) is the ancestor of all current living organisms. This person or organism lived at some point in the past and is believed to be the most recent ancestor of all modern life forms. The MRCA can be traced back to a single common ancestor that existed millions or even billions of years ago. The concept of a Most Recent Common Ancestor originated from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection, which states that all species have evolved from a single ancestral species over time. The MRCA serves as proof for this theory by providing evidence that different species share a common origin and are descended from one another. Scientists have used fossil evidence, genetic analysis, and other techniques to identify our Most Recent Common Ancestor. Based on their research, it appears that humans and chimpanzees share an MRCA who lived about 7 million years ago in Africa. This ancestor was probably an ape-like creature that had some human traits such as bipedalism (walking upright on two legs). In addition to humans and chimpanzees, many other species share this same common ancestor with us, including gorillas, bonobos, baboons, monkeys and lemurs. It is thought that the MRCA was likely one of these species or a combination of several different ones. Although identifying our Most Recent Common Ancestor may seem like an impossible task given its ancient age, scientists believe they can use fossils and DNA evidence to trace our lineage back in time further than ever before. By unlocking the secrets of our ancestral past we can gain insight into humanity’s long history on earth and hopefully come closer to understanding who we are today.