mean?
At the very least, virtually all known hominids would be EXCLUDED as
ancestors. "
First, contrary to your title, it is not mitochondria, it is the
Y-Chromosome. The Mitochondrial DNA is passed only from the Mother.
Second, your conclusion is wrong. What you assert would not be the case if
there was, before this man, a direct line going back into the past. You
forget that there are two sides to a cone. There are the ever increasing
numbers of descendants from this pair, but also that there could be an ever
increasing number of ancestors to that pair. Just because they were the
father an mother of all living men, does not mean that they were the only
ones on earth. It just means that only the descendants of this pair lived.
All others died out. See below for a sketch
a a a a a a a a a
a a a a a a a a a a a=ancestors
a a a a a a a a a
a a a a a a a a
a a a a a a a
a a a a a a
a a a a The line on the right died, the line
on the left,
d d d a produced us and all humans.
d d d d I-died out
d d d d d
d d d d d d
d d d d d d d d= descendant of the pair
You claim too much by your statement. The only thing this proves is that
there was a genetic bottleneck. The nature of that bottleneck is unknown.
glenn