Kinship & migrations
in ancient populations

Mutations serve as the ticking of a molecular clock in estimating the number of generations that separate two individuals or two closely related species from their last ancestor.

For instance, it is estimated that two families feature 200 new mutations per generation. After 150 generations, the genetic variations of two families that originate from a common ancestor will have reached a total of 30,000. After 10,000,000 years, the differences will represent 1% of the DNA. This way, we can estimate the genetic relationship among individuals and population groups and recreate their biological history.