The real mitochondrial Eve (who is purely hypothetical. Her existence is logically inferred. We haven't found any convenient remains, because sad to say, planet Earth is not ACTUALLY a television show). I lost my train of thought. The real mitochondrial Eve is unique because of all the women alive at the time (and, granted, there was a massive population contraction approximately 140,000 or 150,000 years ago, so mitochondrial Eve was probably one of only a few thousand candidates), she had at least two daughters who:
a) survived to adulthood b) had daughters of their own c) migrated in different directions.
So let's say that mitochondrial Eve's eldest daughter was the adventurous type, and went north. Second daughter was more of a stay-at-home type, and stayed put in Africa. Subsequently, daughter #1 had several daughters, and all of them went in different directions (clearly, successful mtDNA transmission depends on very loose emotional bonds between sisters!). Hence the fact that everybody from Swedes to indigenous Australians can all be traced back to that woman in Africa whose daughters and granddaughters all had a terrible case of wanderlust. The lineage is much less likely to die out if the daughters, granddaughters, etc. live in different geographical areas, because if some calamity befalls one group (volcano, disease, whatever), there are still other candidates elsewhere. Spreading the risk, you might say. In other words, clearly, Hera Agathon's tendency to run away at every opportunity was part of what made her lineage so successful!
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The real mitochondrial Eve (who is purely hypothetical. Her existence is logically inferred. We haven't found any convenient remains, because sad to say, planet Earth is not ACTUALLY a television show). I lost my train of thought. The real mitochondrial Eve is unique because of all the women alive at the time (and, granted, there was a massive population contraction approximately 140,000 or 150,000 years ago, so mitochondrial Eve was probably one of only a few thousand candidates), she had at least two daughters who:
a) survived to adulthood
b) had daughters of their own
c) migrated in different directions.
So let's say that mitochondrial Eve's eldest daughter was the adventurous type, and went north. Second daughter was more of a stay-at-home type, and stayed put in Africa. Subsequently, daughter #1 had several daughters, and all of them went in different directions (clearly, successful mtDNA transmission depends on very loose emotional bonds between sisters!). Hence the fact that everybody from Swedes to indigenous Australians can all be traced back to that woman in Africa whose daughters and granddaughters all had a terrible case of wanderlust. The lineage is much less likely to die out if the daughters, granddaughters, etc. live in different geographical areas, because if some calamity befalls one group (volcano, disease, whatever), there are still other candidates elsewhere. Spreading the risk, you might say. In other words, clearly, Hera Agathon's tendency to run away at every opportunity was part of what made her lineage so successful!