Resolving the ancestry of Austronesian-speaking populations

Soares, P. J. et al. (2016) Resolving the ancestry of Austronesian-speaking populations. Human Genetics, 135(3), pp. 309-326. (doi: 10.1007/s00439-015-1620-z) (PMID:26781090) (PMCID:PMC4757630)

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Abstract

There are two very different interpretations of the prehistory of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), with genetic evidence invoked in support of both. The "out-of-Taiwan" model proposes a major Late Holocene expansion of Neolithic Austronesian speakers from Taiwan. An alternative, proposing that Late Glacial/postglacial sea-level rises triggered largely autochthonous dispersals, accounts for some otherwise enigmatic genetic patterns but fails to explain the Austronesian language dispersal. Combining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome and genome-wide data, we performed the most comprehensive analysis of the region to date, obtaining highly consistent results across all three systems and allowing us to reconcile the models. We infer a primarily common ancestry for Taiwan/ISEA populations established before the Neolithic, but also detected clear signals of two minor Late Holocene migrations, probably representing Neolithic input from both Mainland Southeast Asia and South China, via Taiwan. This latter may therefore have mediated the Austronesian language dispersal, implying small-scale migration and language shift rather than large-scale expansion.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Macaulay, Dr Vincent
Authors: Soares, P. J., Trejaut, J. A., Rito, T., Cavadas, B., Hill, C., Eng, K. K., Mormina, M., Brandao, A., Fraser, R. M., Wang, T.-Y., Loo, J.-H., Snell, C., Ko, T.-M., Amorim, A., Pala, M., Macaulay, V., Bulbeck, D., Wilson, J. F., Gusmao, L., Pereira, L., Oppenheimer, S., Lin, M., and Richards, M. B.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Statistics
Journal Name:Human Genetics
Publisher:Springer Verlag
ISSN:0340-6717
ISSN (Online):1432-1203
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016 The Authors
First Published:First published in Human Genetics 135(3):309-326
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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