Genetically, Adam and Eve were alive around the same time.
The most commonly known males ancestor to humans turns out to be older than was once believed. "Adam" most likely walked the Earth arounf the same time as the mitochondrial "Eve," Bloomberg reported.
Researchers believe Adam was prevalent 120,000 to 156,000, while Eve was around 99,000 to 148,000. Adam is much older than scientists thought he was.
"When we put it together, we realized we had the very best map at the time of human genetic variation," Carlos Bustamante, a genetics professor at Stanford University and an author of the study, said. "And when we started looking at this classic question, we were getting an answer that was different than before."
The research team studied the chromosomes of 69 different men from various populations, and traced the data as far back in time as it would go.
They traced generations from: "Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Algeria, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Mexico.
The team used the settlement of Americans as a landmark for the time frame of the chromosomes.
The Y-chromosomes with certain mutations were found to have a similar past ancestor.
Jennifer Hughes, a researcher with the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, said there was more than one Adam. Man most likely comes from a variety of "lucky fathers" who produced successful offspring.
An ancient family tree shows Adam at the roots. Mutations "branched off" quickly throughout the generations.
The "original" male and female most likely never walked the Earth at the same time, and almost certainly never met. There were also probably other people around at the same time as them. The difference is their family lines died out, while Adam and Eve's succeeded.
"It's interesting when you think something is solved and the question is dead, and then you get more information and it upends itself," Bustamante said.
