1. |
- Morell Miranda, Pedro, et al.
(author)
-
Ancient genomes reveal 7000 years of interconnected Demographic History between Sheep and Humans in Iberia.
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- As the first domestic livestock species, sheep has had a fundamentalrole in human populations since the Neolithic. Theirdemographic history is, however, poorly understood. We successfullysequenced 13 ancient sheep from 2 sites in NorthernIberia to up to 8.74× and 1 modern Corsican mouflon to describethis demographic history at the Western extreme of theMediterranean. Our results support an initial maritime expansioninto Iberia and that European mouflons descended fromferalized Neolithic sheep. We also describe a secondary expansionof Eastern ancestry in sheep at the same time when humanSteppe ancestry arrived to Iberia, and when we expect woollysheep to expand through Europe. Lastly, we found a third expansionin the Mediterranean area during the Roman period,when some historical sources mentioned fine-wool sheep beingtraded. We see evidence that this expansion had a significanteffect in shaping the modern European sheep gene pool leadingto modern breeds like the popular Merino. These resultsillustrate the dynamic history of Iberian sheep populations, andhow human cultural and demographic changes left their footprintsin the sheep gene pool, marking them as a useful proxyfor describing complex human demographic events.
|
|
2. |
|
|
3. |
- Dalen, Love, et al.
(author)
-
Ancient DNA reveals lack of postglacial habitat tracking in the arctic fox
- 2007
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 104:16, s. 6726-6729
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How species respond to an increased availability of habitat, for example at the end of the last glaciation, has been well established. In contrast, little is known about the opposite process, when the amount of habitat decreases. The hypothesis of habitat tracking predicts that species should be able to track both increases and decreases in habitat availability. The alternative hypothesis is that populations outside refugia become extinct during periods of unsuitable climate. To test these hypotheses, we used ancient DNA techniques to examine genetic variation in the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) through an expansion/contraction cycle. The results show that the arctic fox in midlatitude Europe became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene and did not track the habitat when it shifted to the north. Instead, a high genetic similarity between the extant populations in Scandinavia and Siberia suggests an eastern origin for the Scandinavian population at the end of the last glaciation. These results provide new insights into how species respond to climate change, since they suggest that populations are unable to track decreases in habitat avaliability. This implies that arctic species may be particularly vulnerable to increases in global temperatures.
|
|
4. |
- Edwards, Ceiridwen J., et al.
(author)
-
Ancient Hybridization and an Irish Origin for the Modern Polar Bear Matriline
- 2011
-
In: Current Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0960-9822 .- 1879-0445. ; 21:15, s. 1251-1258
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are among those species most susceptible to the rapidly changing arctic climate, and their survival is of global concern. Despite this, little is known about polar bear species history. Future conservation strategies would significantly benefit from an understanding of basic evolutionary information, such as the timing and conditions of their initial divergence from brown bears (U. arctos) or their response to previous environmental change. Results: We used a spatially explicit phylogeographic model to estimate the dynamics of 242 brown bear and polar bear matrilines sampled throughout the last 120,000 years and across their present and past geographic ranges. Our results show that the present distribution of these matrilines was shaped by a combination of regional stability and rapid, long-distance dispersal from ice-age refugia. In addition, hybridization between polar bears and brown bears may have occurred multiple times throughout the Late Pleistocene. Conclusions: The reconstructed matrilineal history of brown and polar bears has two striking features. First, it is punctuated by dramatic and discrete climate-driven dispersal events. Second, opportunistic mating between these two species as their ranges overlapped has left a strong genetic imprint. In particular, a likely genetic exchange with extinct Irish brown bears forms the origin of the modern polar bear matriline. This suggests that interspecific hybridization not only may be more common than previously considered but may be a mechanism by which species deal with marginal habitats during periods of environmental deterioration.
|
|
5. |
- Frantz, Laurent A. F., et al.
(author)
-
Ancient pigs reveal a near-complete genomic turnover following their introduction to Europe
- 2019
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 116:35, s. 17231-17238
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by similar to 10,500 y before the present ( BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers similar to 8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local European wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process.
|
|
6. |
- Günther, Torsten, et al.
(author)
-
Ancient genomes link early farmers from Atapuerca in Spain to modern-day Basques
- 2015
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 112:38, s. 11917-11922
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The consequences of the Neolithic transition in Europe-one of the most important cultural changes in human prehistory-is a subject of great interest. However, its effect on prehistoric and modern-day people in Iberia, the westernmost frontier of the European continent, remains unresolved. We present, to our knowledge, the first genome-wide sequence data from eight human remains, dated to between 5,500 and 3,500 years before present, excavated in the El Portalon cave at Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. We show that these individuals emerged from the same ancestral gene pool as early farmers in other parts of Europe, suggesting that migration was the dominant mode of transferring farming practices throughout western Eurasia. In contrast to central and northern early European farmers, the Chalcolithic El Portalon individuals additionally mixed with local southwestern hunter-gatherers. The proportion of hunter-gatherer-related admixture into early farmers also increased over the course of two millennia. The Chalcolithic El Portalon individuals showed greatest genetic affinity to modern-day Basques, who have long been considered linguistic and genetic isolates linked to the Mesolithic whereas all other European early farmers show greater genetic similarity to modern-day Sardinians. These genetic links suggest that Basques and their language may be linked with the spread of agriculture during the Neolithic. Furthermore, all modern-day Iberian groups except the Basques display distinct admixture with Caucasus/Central Asian and North African groups, possibly related to historical migration events. The El Portalon genomes uncover important pieces of the demographic history of Iberia and Europe and reveal how prehistoric groups relate to modern-day people.
|
|
7. |
- Günther, Torsten, et al.
(author)
-
Population genomics of Mesolithic Scandinavia : Investigating early postglacial migration routes and high-latitude adaptation
- 2018
-
In: PLoS biology. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1544-9173 .- 1545-7885. ; 16:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Scandinavia was one of the last geographic areas in Europe to become habitable for humans after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). However, the routes and genetic composition of these postglacial migrants remain unclear. We sequenced the genomes, up to 57x coverage, of seven hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated from 9,500-6,000 years before present (BP). Surprisingly, among the Scandinavian Mesolithic individuals, the genetic data display an east-west genetic gradient that opposes the pattern seen in other parts of Mesolithic Europe. Our results suggest two different early postglacial migrations into Scandinavia: initially from the south, and later, from the northeast. The latter followed the ice-free Norwegian north Atlantic coast, along which novel and advanced pressure-blade stone-tool techniques may have spread. These two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population, which shows patterns of genetic adaptation to high latitude environments. These potential adaptations include high frequencies of low pigmentation variants and a gene region associated with physical performance, which shows strong continuity into modern-day northern Europeans.
|
|
8. |
- Omrak, Ayça, et al.
(author)
-
Genomic Evidence Establishes Anatolia as the Source of the European Neolithic Gene Pool
- 2016
-
In: Current Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0960-9822 .- 1879-0445. ; 26:2, s. 270-275
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Anatolia and the Near East have long been recognized as the epicenter of the Neolithic expansion through archaeological evidence. Recent archaeogenetic studies on Neolithic European human remains have shown that the Neolithic expansion in Europe was driven westward and northward by migration from a supposed Near Eastern origin [1-5]. However, this expansion and the establishment of numerous culture complexes in the Aegean and Balkans did not occur until 8,500 before present (BP), over 2,000 years after the initial settlements in the Neolithic core area [6-9]. We present ancient genome-wide sequence data from 6,700-year-old human remains excavated from a Neolithic context in Kumtepe, located in northwestern Anatolia near the well-known (and younger) site Troy [10]. Kumtepe is one of the settlements that emerged around 7,000 BP, after the initial expansion wave brought Neolithic practices to Europe. We show that this individual displays genetic similarities to the early European Neolithic gene pool and modern-day Sardinians, as well as a genetic affinity to modern-day populations from the Near East and the Caucasus. Furthermore, modern-day Anatolians carry signatures of several admixture events from different populations that have diluted this early Neolithic farmer component, explaining why modern-day Sardinian populations, instead of modern-day Anatolian populations, are genetically more similar to the people that drove the Neolithic expansion into Europe. Anatolia's central geographic location appears to have served as a connecting point, allowing a complex contact network with other areas of the Near East and Europe throughout, and after, the Neolithic.
|
|
9. |
- Raghavan, Maanasa, et al.
(author)
-
Genomic evidence for the Pleistocene and recent population history of Native Americans
- 2015
-
In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 349:6250
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Howand when the Americas were populated remains contentious. Using ancient and modern genome-wide data, we found that the ancestors of all present-day Native Americans, including Athabascans and Amerindians, entered the Americas as a single migration wave from Siberia no earlier than 23 thousand years ago (ka) and after no more than an 8000-year isolation period in Beringia. After their arrival to the Americas, ancestral Native Americans diversified into two basal genetic branches around 13 ka, one that is now dispersed across North and South America and the other restricted to North America. Subsequent gene flow resulted in some Native Americans sharing ancestry with present-day East Asians (including Siberians) and, more distantly, Australo-Melanesians. Putative "Paleoamerican" relict populations, including the historical Mexican Pericues and South American Fuego-Patagonians, are not directly related to modern Australo-Melanesians as suggested by the Paleoamerican Model.
|
|
10. |
- Rodriguez, Ricardo, et al.
(author)
-
50,000 years of genetic uniformity in the critically endangered Iberian lynx
- 2011
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 20:18, s. 3785-3795
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Low genetic diversity in the endangered Iberian lynx, including lack of mitochondrial control region variation, is thought to result from historical or Pleistocene/Holocene population bottlenecks, and to indicate poor long-term viability. We find no variability in control region sequences from 19 Iberian lynx remains from across the Iberian Peninsula and spanning the last 50 000 years. This is best explained by continuously small female effective population size through time. We conclude that low genetic variability in the Iberian lynx is not in itself a threat to long-term viability, and so should not preclude conservation efforts.
|
|