Thanks to Marlowe Hood of Agence France Press (AFP) for an extensive article about Why should mitochondria define species? by Mark Stoeckle and David Thaler. Editing of Mr. Hood’s article resulted in a couple of inaccuracies.
While the opening sentence suggests that a handheld barcoding device already exists, such a convenient device remains a few years away, although the process of obtaining barcodes is now standardized, routine, and quick.
The fourth paragraph inquires about diversity increasing with time. Diversity does increase with time. What the paper shows is that while time matters, the population size achieved over the interval of time does not matter.
The study is grounded in and strongly supports Darwinian evolution, including the understanding all life has evolved from a common biological origin over several billion years.
The study follows mainstream views of human evolution. We do not propose there was a single “Adam” or “Eve”. We do not propose any catastrophic events.