From ScienceDaily:
For the first time, scientists have revealed ancient gene mixing between chimpanzees and bonobos, humankind’s closest relatives, showing parallels with Neanderthal mixing in human ancestry. The study showed that one percent of chimpanzee genomes are derived from bonobos.
Only one percent? Keep the file open.
Paper. (public access) – Marc de Manuel et al. Chimpanzee genomic diversity reveals ancient admixture with bonobos. Science, 2016; 354 (6311): 477-481 DOI: 10.1126/science.aag2602
…
Chimpanzees and bonobos are the closest living relatives of human beings. They diverged from a common ancestor between 1.5 and 2 million years ago and live in different areas of tropical Africa. Until now, it was thought that gene flow between the species would have been impossible, as they were physically separated by the Congo River.
The study confirmed a main separation between chimpanzees and bonobos approximately 1.5 million years ago, and the presence of four chimpanzee subspecies in different regions. However, the researchers also found there were two additional gene flow events between the chimpanzee and bonobo populations, indicating that at least some individuals found their way across the river. More.
Can’t think why.
Only a very doctrinaire Darwinism would assume that they didn’t interbreed, even at risk, given any chance at all. The obvious reason for doubt would be the need to find instances of hard and fast speciation. But such instances may turn out to be many fewer than we suppose.
Another possible topic for a future Royal Society rethinking evolution meet would be: A real world view of hybridization: What it can and can’t do
See also: Hybridization as viable form of evolution
and
Red wolf not “endangered”; a hybrid?
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I’m not sure why even the most “doctrinaire Darwinist” would assume that they didn’t interbreed – given the chance. The question was whether they ever have a chance.
Chimpanzees and bonobos interbreed? But of course, Why not? in the ever flexible, unfalsifiable, world of Darwinian pseudo-science, even Chimps and Pigs are allowed to interbreed if it will allow someone to tell a good just-so story to support the overall Darwinian narrative:
A few notes to that effect. First off, the anatomical differences between chimps and humans are far greater than most Darwinists will ever admit:
In fact so great are the anatomical differences between humans and chimps that a Darwinist, since pigs are anatomically closer to humans than chimps are, actually proposed that a chimp and pig mated with each other and that is what ultimately gave rise to humans:
Moreover, Physorg published a subsequent article, (since the preceding article badly upset the prevailing just so story of the ‘march to man’ cartoon), showing that the pig-chimp hybrid theory for human origins is much harder to shoot down than some other Darwinists, who opposed McCarthy, had first supposed it would be:
Moreover, these drastic differences between chimps and humans go all the way down to the protein level. This is revealed by the very different alternative splicing patterns found between chimps and humans
The reason why very different alternative splicing patterns between chimps and humans, which produce perhaps over a million distinct polypeptides which appear to behave as if encoded by distinct genes, and which exhibit strikingly different interaction profiles, is absolutely impossible for Darwinian processes to explain is because of Behe’s “Edge of Evolution”
Of supplemental note: The genetic data is far more discordant with Darwinian predictions than most Darwinists will ever honestly admit:
goodusername at 1: How little faith you have in animal ingenuity and the desire not to be alone! 😉