Robert W. Weir’s 1844 painting imagines prominent Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower.
The further back one goes, the direct ancestors increase exponentially.
British mathematician Rob Eastaway explained toBBCwhy the 35 million estimates might be a bit too high.
Robert W. Weir’s 1844 painting imagines prominent Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
In short, Mayflower descendants likely married other descendants most of the time.
This is calledpedigree collapse.
My father-in-law discovered that their family is descended from Richard Warren, Eastaway explains.
Genghis Khan, thought to be a direct ancestor of about eight percent of men in the region that once was the Mongol Empire, here pictured by a 14th-century artist. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
But not only that, they think that probably my wife and children are also descended from John Howland.
So there’s even an example of potential pedigree collapse in my own family.
Eastaway’s wife is descended from Mayflower passenger Richard Warren, who had seven children and 57 grandkids.
His wife is also descended from John Howland, another passenger.
This illustrates how the interbreeding of descendants drastically cuts against the total possible number.
He estimates 30 million is a more accurate hard ceiling.
People in other areas of the world share similar fascinating genetic links.
The leader had seven wives, traveled widely, and had hundreds of concubines.
His illegitimate children were likely numerous, and the DNA was passed down over generations.
In fact, there are only so many ancestors.
A2013 studydiscovered people of European ancestry share the same small set of ancestors.
For those with recentEuropean ancestors, this point is around 1000 CE.
