Comment Re:Didn't we discuss this last year? (Score 2, Insightful) 398
The latsest new scientist's article, only available online to subscribers, says that it's just mitochondrial DNA which has been analysed, although this does show the ape to be genetically indistinguishable from the local chimp subspecies.
This doesn't really explain their large size (not just larger than the average chimp, but larger than the largest previously known chimp), their unusual skull shape and behavioural differences.
Possible explanations for these include variations in the Y chromosome (although Shelly Williams says she has seen large females too) or simple genetic drift in other parts of the genome. The fact that mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from the mother leaves open the possibility that the apes are descended from the offspring of male gorilla and female chimp pairings.
This doesn't really explain their large size (not just larger than the average chimp, but larger than the largest previously known chimp), their unusual skull shape and behavioural differences.
Possible explanations for these include variations in the Y chromosome (although Shelly Williams says she has seen large females too) or simple genetic drift in other parts of the genome. The fact that mitochondrial DNA is only inherited from the mother leaves open the possibility that the apes are descended from the offspring of male gorilla and female chimp pairings.
