we have 46- our nearest ape relatives have 48- which led to the question- how could we have a common ancestor with great apes, but fewer chromosomes?
They are not missing....they just fused, and have been found

i find this kind of thing fascinating. a random molecular accident which leads to the diversion of humanity from chimps, with huge effects on the development of the earth.

awesome stuff huh? glad they finally figured it out....not missing - just merged

And they did this all by themselves, one male and one female so they could reproduce. It sounds like a stretch to me.