| 1. |
- Bergström, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 607:7918, s. 313-320
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The grey wolf (Canis lupus) was the first species to give rise to a domestic population, and they remained widespread throughout the last Ice Age when many other large mammal species went extinct. Little is known, however, about the history and possible extinction of past wolf populations or when and where the wolf progenitors of the present-day dog lineage (Canis familiaris) lived. Here we analysed 72 ancient wolf genomes spanning the last 100,000 years from Europe, Siberia and North America. We found that wolf populations were highly connected throughout the Late Pleistocene, with levels of differentiation an order of magnitude lower than they are today. This population connectivity allowed us to detect natural selection across the time series, including rapid fixation of mutations in the gene IFT88 40,000–30,000 years ago. We show that dogs are overall more closely related to ancient wolves from eastern Eurasia than to those from western Eurasia, suggesting a domestication process in the east. However, we also found that dogs in the Near East and Africa derive up to half of their ancestry from a distinct population related to modern southwest Eurasian wolves, reflecting either an independent domestication process or admixture from local wolves. None of the analysed ancient wolf genomes is a direct match for either of these dog ancestries, meaning that the exact progenitor populations remain to be located.
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| 2. |
- Pečnerová, Patrícia, et al.
(författare)
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Population genomics of the muskox' resilience in the near absence of genetic variation
- 2024
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 33:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genomic studies of species threatened by extinction are providing crucial information about evolutionary mechanisms and genetic consequences of population declines and bottlenecks. However, to understand how species avoid the extinction vortex, insights can be drawn by studying species that thrive despite past declines. Here, we studied the population genomics of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an Ice Age relict that was at the brink of extinction for thousands of years at the end of the Pleistocene yet appears to be thriving today. We analysed 108 whole genomes, including present-day individuals representing the current native range of both muskox subspecies, the white-faced and the barren-ground muskox (O. moschatus wardi and O. moschatus moschatus) and a ~21,000-year-old ancient individual from Siberia. We found that the muskox' demographic history was profoundly shaped by past climate changes and post-glacial re-colonizations. In particular, the white-faced muskox has the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity recorded in an ungulate. Yet, there is no evidence of inbreeding depression in native muskox populations. We hypothesize that this can be explained by the effect of long-term gradual population declines that allowed for purging of strongly deleterious mutations. This study provides insights into how species with a history of population bottlenecks, small population sizes and low genetic diversity survive against all odds.
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| 3. |
- Altınışık, N. Ezgi, et al.
(författare)
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A genomic snapshot of demographic and cultural dynamism in Upper Mesopotamia during the Neolithic Transition
- 2022
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 8:44
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Upper Mesopotamia played a key role in the Neolithic Transition in Southwest Asia through marked innovations in symbolism, technology, and diet. We present 13 ancient genomes (c. 8500 to 7500 cal BCE) from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Çayönü in the Tigris basin together with bioarchaeological and material culture data. Our findings reveal that Çayönü was a genetically diverse population, carrying mixed ancestry from western and eastern Fertile Crescent, and that the community received immigrants. Our results further suggest that the community was organized along biological family lines. We document bodily interventions such as head shaping and cauterization among the individuals examined, reflecting Çayönü’s cultural ingenuity. Last, we identify Upper Mesopotamia as the likely source of eastern gene flow into Neolithic Anatolia, in line with material culture evidence. We hypothesize that Upper Mesopotamia’s cultural dynamism during the Neolithic Transition was the product not only of its fertile lands but also of its interregional demographic connections.
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| 4. |
- Bergfeldt, Nora, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of microbial pathogens in Neolithic Scandinavian humans
- 2024
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : NATURE PORTFOLIO. - 2045-2322. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the Neolithic transition, human lifestyle shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. This change altered subsistence patterns, cultural expression, and population structures as shown by the archaeological/zooarchaeological record, as well as by stable isotope and ancient DNA data. Here, we used metagenomic data to analyse if the transitions also impacted the microbiome composition in 25 Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherers and 13 Neolithic farmers from several Scandinavian Stone Age cultural contexts. Salmonella enterica, a bacterium that may have been the cause of death for the infected individuals, was found in two Neolithic samples from Battle Axe culture contexts. Several species of the bacterial genus Yersinia were found in Neolithic individuals from Funnel Beaker culture contexts as well as from later Neolithic context. Transmission of e.g. Y. enterocolitica may have been facilitated by the denser populations in agricultural contexts.
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| 5. |
- Blaschikoff, Ludmilla, et al.
(författare)
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A multidisciplinary study of Iberian Chalcolithic dogs
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-409X .- 2352-4103. ; 42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Domesticated dogs have been present in the Iberian Peninsula long before other domesticated species, back to the late Palaeolithic period. Their origin is still uncertain, but dogs were already well established during the Chalcolithic period (ca. 5000-4000 BP). This study employed a multidisciplinary approach comprising osteometric, radiographic and palaeogenomic analyses to characterize Chalcolithic Iberian Canis remains. Two Chalcolithic archaeological sites - Leceia, Oeiras, in Portugal, and El Caset ' on de la Era, Villalba de los Alcores, Valladolid, in Spain - were the main focus of this study. Osteometric and odontometric data from eleven other sites in Iberia were also included. Osteometric results show signs of phenotypic variability, likely the result of human-driven selective pressure. Dental radiographic and dental wear analyses allowed age at death estimation for four individuals (two juvenile and two adults). Three Chalcolithic Iberian dogs had their mitogenomes resequenced and the mitochondrial DNA analysis allowed to assign each individual to two of the major known haplogroups - A and C. Molecular sex infered by the chromosomeX/chromosome1 coverage ratio allowed to identify one female and two males. This study unveils some aspects of the Iberian Chalcolithic dogs: these dogs already exhibited various morphotypes whose profiles might be associated to the performance of certain tasks, as well as mitogenomes of two distinct lineages that help tracking the evolutionary paths of Iberian dogs.
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| 6. |
- Chylenski, Maciej, et al.
(författare)
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Patrilocality and hunter-gatherer-related ancestry of populations in East-Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The demographic history of East-Central Europe after the Neolithic period remains poorly explored, despite this region being on the confluence of various ecological zones and cultural entities. Here, the descendants of societies associated with steppe pastoralists form Early Bronze Age were followed by Middle Bronze Age populations displaying unique characteristics. Particularly, the predominance of collective burials, the scale of which, was previously seen only in the Neolithic. The extent to which this re-emergence of older traditions is a result of genetic shift or social changes in the MBA is a subject of debate. Here by analysing 91 newly generated genomes from Bronze Age individuals from present Poland and Ukraine, we discovered that Middle Bronze Age populations were formed by an additional admixture event involving a population with relatively high proportions of genetic component associated with European hunter-gatherers and that their social structure was based on, primarily patrilocal, multigenerational kin-groups. By analysing 91 Bronze Age genomes from East-Central Europe, the authors discovered that Middle Bronze Age populations were formed by an admixture event involving hunter-gatherers and that the social structure of resulting population was primarily patrilocal.
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| 7. |
- Ericson, Per G P, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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A 14,000-year-old genome sheds light on the evolution and extinction of a Pleistocene vulture
- 2022
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The New World Vulture [Coragyps] occidentalis (L. Miller, 1909) is one of many species that were extinct by the end of the Pleistocene. To understand its evolutionary history we sequenced the genome of a 14,000 year old [Coragyps] occidentalis found associated with megaherbivores in the Peruvian Andes. occidentalis has been viewed as the ancestor, or possibly sister, to the extant Black Vulture Coragyps atratus, but genomic data shows occidentalis to be deeply nested within the South American clade of atratus. Coragyps atratus inhabits lowlands, but the fossil record indicates that occidentalis mostly occupied high elevations. Our results suggest that occidentalis evolved from a population of atratus in southwestern South America that colonized the High Andes 300 to 400 kya. The morphological and morphometric differences between occidentalis and atratus may thus be explained by ecological diversification following from the natural selection imposed by this new and extreme, high elevation environment. The sudden evolution of a population with significantly larger body size and different anatomical proportions than atratus thus constitutes an example of punctuated evolution.
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| 8. |
- Götherström, Anders, 1969-
(författare)
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Acquired or inherited prestige? : molecular studies of family structures and local horses in Central Svealand during the Early Medieval period
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This is a study of the role of inheritance among the élite in Early Medieval central Svealand and the possibility to study it by molecular genetic methods. The study is a part of the research project Svealand in the Vendel and Viking periods (SIV). The study rests on classical as well as a new type of source material.Hypotheses are built on the results from a research tradition resting on more than a century of data gathering and analysis. The boat cemeteries in central Svealand hold a central position in this work. Several models have been constructed over the years to explain the appearance of these special and often rich remains. In this work they are discussed in terms of inherited or acquired status, the status that gave the individual the right to such burial. Since these sites have often been discussed in terms of control of northern trade routs, a discussion on ethnicity is inevitable. A distinction between genetic and cultural belonging is made.To test the models, built upon classic archaeological research, molecular genetics is applied to the material. A variety of such molecular systems exist for studies on modern material. Some of them have been selected and heavily modified to be applicable to archaeological material. Systems based on maternally as well as paternally and Mendelian inheritances are used. One of the goals in the methodological work has been to establish which of the methods that may reveal relevant information if applied to archaeological material.Bone material from humans as well as from horses was used to test the models. The human material was mainly gathered from excavations of boat cemeteries in central Svealand, but also from an early Christian site in southern Norrland. The horse material was from a wider geographical area, including central Svealand as well as the Baltic islands Öland and Gotland, and sites in Estonia. The material was mainly from contexts of a high social status, but also, to a much lesser extent, from more common society levels. The results reveal an archaeological potential in the genetic studies of ancient bones. Genetic relations were identified on several cemeteries (Badelunda, Alsike and Björned), but also individuals with no genetic relation to the others were identified (Alsike and Björned). Horses of different sexes and with different maternal origin were also identified.The results indicate that the kin was an important feature in the upper class during the Early Medieval period in central Svealand. The kin probably had a higher importance than gender belonging. The studied horses reveal a similar situation where features other than the sex seems to have been important. However, the family seems to have been an open unit where it was possible for outsiders to enter and become a part. Thus, inheritance was important, but it was possible for an individual with deviating background to reach a desired position in other ways. There was no absolute connection between social status and genetics. As for one of the main status object, the horse, a dynamic and continuous distribution is suggested, either based on trade or on a gift system.
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| 9. |
- Kirdok, Emrah, et al.
(författare)
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Metagenomic analysis of Mesolithic chewed pitch reveals poor oral health among stone age individuals
- 2024
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Nature. - 2045-2322. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Prehistoric chewed pitch has proven to be a useful source of ancient DNA, both from humans and their microbiomes. Here we present the metagenomic analysis of three pieces of chewed pitch from Huseby Klev, Sweden, that were dated to 9,890-9,540 before present. The metagenomic profile exposes a Mesolithic oral microbiome that includes opportunistic oral pathogens. We compared the data with healthy and dysbiotic microbiome datasets and we identified increased abundance of periodontitis-associated microbes. In addition, trained machine learning models predicted dysbiosis with 70-80% probability. Moreover, we identified DNA sequences from eukaryotic species such as red fox, hazelnut, red deer and apple. Our results indicate a case of poor oral health during the Scandinavian Mesolithic, and show that pitch pieces have the potential to provide information on material use, diet and oral health.
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| 10. |
- Koptekin, Dilek, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial and temporal heterogeneity in human mobility patterns in Holocene Southwest Asia and the East Mediterranean
- 2023
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Ingår i: Current Biology. - : Cell Press. - 0960-9822 .- 1879-0445. ; 33:1, s. 41-57
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a spatiotemporal picture of human genetic diversity in Anatolia, Iran, Levant, South Caucasus, and the Aegean, a broad region that experienced the earliest Neolithic transition and the emergence of com-plex hierarchical societies. Combining 35 new ancient shotgun genomes with 382 ancient and 23 present-day published genomes, we found that genetic diversity within each region steadily increased through the Holo-cene. We further observed that the inferred sources of gene flow shifted in time. In the first half of the Holo-cene, Southwest Asian and the East Mediterranean populations homogenized among themselves. Starting with the Bronze Age, however, regional populations diverged from each other, most likely driven by gene flow from external sources, which we term "the expanding mobility model."Interestingly, this increase in in-ter-regional divergence can be captured by outgroup-f3-based genetic distances, but not by the commonly used FST statistic, due to the sensitivity of FST, but not outgroup-f3, to within-population diversity. Finally, we report a temporal trend of increasing male bias in admixture events through the Holocene.
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