Mankind is not as old as we once assumed.
Or so Spencer Wells claims in The Journey of Man.
While human-like creatures like the Neanderthals existed 'hundreds of thousands of years' ago, Wells believes that men -- as opposed to women -- only evolved as a species just 60,000 years ago.
Wells had told rediff.com this in November 2002.
Expanding on this theory in his new book, the geneticist says the origin of all mankind lies in an African woman, who lived 150,000 years ago.
In other words, Eve is older than Adam.
"India proved a critical turning point for us as genetic testing of isolated Indian populations produces a key genetic marker [one of the genetic changes] linking India as a crossroad for the journey of man to both Australia and Central Asia," Wells had then told rediff.com Chief Correspondent Syed Firdaus Ashraf in an interview. "So we were looking in the south of India because most Indian scientists said that the oldest population in India stayed in south India."
"Twenty laboratories and about a hundred people were involved in this research," Wells had told rediff.com, "and it took us ten years to conclude this."
When Ashraf asked him:
You said that all human beings are related to one man in Africa. Was this the Adam mentioned in the Bible?
Wells replied:
It's interesting that both genetic science and the Bible show that there is a single origin of molecule. According to genetic science we come from a single male ancestor. In the Bible too it is mentioned that there is a single male Adam and single female, Eve. Personally, I don't equate that one to one with the story of the Bible because if you come back generations, Adam should have existed in 4004 BC, and our Adam existed 60,000 years ago.
To which Ashraf responded:
So can you say you are disputing the claim of the Bible?
Wells responded:
I don't like to get involved in religious issues because I am not a specialist in religion. I am a scientist and I demand evidence. And religion is not about evidence but about belief.
Read the interview with Spencer Wells
