Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Our Human Family Tree. The human family tree now seems To be not a single line of ancestors, But it appears there was a population split !.5 million years ago and a reuniting 300,000 years ago. Analyzing modern human DNA shows that one Of these isolated populations was genetically dominant. Along the way, humans shared genes With Denisovans and Neanderthals. The ancient mixing event 300,000 years ago Resulted in only about 20 percent of modern human genes Coming from a minority population. The larger (80 percent) ancestral population Contributing to modern humans, Also appears to have been ancestral To Denisovans and Neanderthals. Some of the genes from the ancient minority (20 %) population, Importantly, contributed brain function and neural processing, Playing a crucial role in human evolution. Was one of these ancient populations possibly Homo erectus and as yet an unknown Homo? Frank Maurer 24 March 2025 1300 Hours.