▁obtained ▁from ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁NUM T ▁fragments ▁could ▁be ▁used ▁to ▁understand ▁mit och ond rial ▁evolution ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁evolution ary ▁processes ▁throughout ▁the ▁history . ▁ ▁NUM T s ▁offer ▁an ▁opportunity ▁to ▁study ▁ancient ▁divers ity ▁of ▁mit och ond rial ▁line ages ▁and ▁to ▁discover ▁pre histor ic ▁inter species ▁hy brid ization . ▁An cient ▁hy brid ization ▁have ▁been ▁first ▁detected ▁( using ▁NUM T s ) ▁in ▁br ist let ails , ▁then ▁in ▁col ob ine ▁mon keys , ▁and , ▁most ▁recently , ▁in ▁a ▁direct ▁human ▁ancest or . ▁The ▁hom in id ▁hy brid ization ▁happened ▁about ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁human / ch imp anze e / gor illa ▁separation . ▁This ▁latter ▁study ▁concerns ▁a ▁human ▁NUM T ▁shared ▁with ▁ch imp anze e ▁and ▁g or illa . ▁J oint ▁ph y log eny ▁of ▁the ▁three ▁NUM T ▁sequences ▁and ▁the ▁mit och ond rial ▁genom es ▁of ▁great ▁ap es ▁implies ▁that ▁a ▁common ▁ancest or ▁of ▁the ▁three ▁NUM T s ▁has ▁been ▁transferred ▁to ▁human / ch imp / gor illa ▁line age ▁from ▁a ▁hom in id ▁species ▁separated ▁from ▁them ▁by ▁about ▁ 4 . 5 ▁million ▁years ▁of ▁m t D NA ▁evolution . ▁While ▁hy brid ization ▁of ▁this ▁magnitude ▁is ▁not ▁un he ard ▁of ▁among ▁prim ates , ▁its ▁occurrence ▁in ▁the ▁direct ▁human ▁line age , ▁around ▁the ▁critical ▁time ▁of ▁human / ape ▁spe ci ation ,