Evolutionary genetics. Europeans trace ancestry to Paleolithic people

Y chromosome data show that living Europeans have deep roots in the region--and researchers say genetic markers may be linked to cultures known from archaeological remains. In a report on page 1155, an international team reports that a wealth of data from the Y chromosome show that more than 80% of European men have inherited their Y chromosomes--which are transmitted only from father to son--from Paleolithic ancestors who lived 25,000 to 40,000 years ago. Thus, the genetic template for European men was set as early as 40,000 years ago, then modified--but not recast--by the Neolithic farmers who arrived in the region about 10,000 years ago.     

Anthropologists bet on their latest data in las vegas

Anthropologists need luck on their side when they search for key fossils or study monkeys in the wild, but their work can still hit the jackpot. That was clear at the 61 st annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropology, which brought more than 800 anthropologists to Las Vegas in early April. Among the reports was one on new fossils of early hominids in Ethiopia and another on extinct giant sloth lemurs in Madagascar.