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Male chimps evolve faster with age Chimpanzees are evolving faster than humans. Venn et al. examined the genetics of three generations of western chimpanzees and found that overall the mutation rate is similar between humans and chimpanzees. However, while male humans had three to four times the mutation rate of females, in chimpanzees the sex difference was even higher, with a male mutation rate five to six times that of females. Blame aging dads. For every extra year of the father's age, baby chimpanzees exhibited approximately one extra mutation. This finding will inform future studies of primate evolution. Science , this issue p. 1272

Original publication

DOI

10.1126/science.344.6189.1272

Type

Journal article

Journal

Science

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Publication Date

13/06/2014

Volume

344

Pages

1272 - 1275