MadSci Network: Evolution |
Please could you explain how the chromosomes in chimps and humans might have split from 48 to 46 in a common ancestor? What I don’t understand is the point at which the split appears to have taken place. For example, I understand that the human chromosome is #2 and that the chimp chromosome is #13. Do these different chromosomes have the same or similar functions that would explain why a split might occur? What is the genetic advantage of combining 2 chromosomes into one at this point in the sequence? How does the reduction of 2 chromosomes into 1 at this point in the humans’/chimps’ DNA start the process that makes an ‘ancestral chimp’ eventually become a human (with all the advantages that, from our anthropological point of view, make humans superior to chimps)? In other words, in case I am phrasing this badly in my confusion, what does this particular sequence of DNA do at numbers 2 and 13 respectively that would account for a speciation event of such a magnitude? Thank you very much for your patience and kindness in answering my questions.
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