An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear,[1] is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth).
However, this concept of ancestry does not apply to some bacteria and other organisms capable of horizontal gene transfer.
This might have been due to the past prevalence of polygynous relations and female hypergamy.
In practice, however, it is clear that most ancestors of humans (and any other species) are multiply related (see pedigree collapse).
Some cultures confer reverence to ancestors, both living and dead; in contrast, some more youth-oriented cultural contexts display less veneration of elders.