Some of these women may have died childless.
It is possible to draw the same matrilineal tree by starting with all contemporary human females of Mitochondrial Eve. This is the most recent common matrilineal ancestor of all humans alive today, i.e. The further back in time one goes, the fewer mitochondrial ancestors of living humans there will be, until only one is left. Going back through time these mitochondrial lineages will converge when two or more women have the same mother. Then continue those lines from each of those mothers to their mothers, and so on, effectively tracing a family tree backward in time based purely on mitochondrial lineages. For every individual (males and females), trace a line from the individual to his/her mother. To find the Mitochondrial Eve of all humans living today, one can start by listing all individuals alive today. Because mitochondrial DNA is passed through matrilineal descent, all humans alive today have mitochondrial DNA that is traceable back to Mitochondrial Eve. However, only Mitochondrial Eve, and her matrilineal ancestors, have a pure matrilineal line of descent to all humans alive today. Some of those women may even be ancestors to all humans alive today while others may be ancestors to only some of the humans alive today. Many women alive at the same time as Mitochondrial Eve have descendants alive today. Had she been the only living female of her time, humanity would most likely have become extinct due to population bottleneck. A common misconception is that Mitochondrial Eve was the only living human female of her time - she was not. Wilson's naming Mitochondrial Eve after Eve of the Genesis creation story has led to some misunderstandings among the general public. The time she lived is calculated based on the molecular clock technique of correlating elapsed time with observed genetic drift. The holder of this title is believed by some to have lived about 150,000 years ago in what is now Ethiopia, Kenya or Tanzania. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of the Y-chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor. Mitochondrial Eve ( mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman who is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor for all living humans the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in all living humans is derived from hers. Related subjects: Evolution and reproduction