POPULATION GENETICS. Genomic evidence for the Pleistocene and recent population history of Native Americans. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • How and 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 Perices and South American Fuego-Patagonians, are not directly related to modern Australo-Melanesians as suggested by the Paleoamerican Model.

published proceedings

  • Science

altmetric score

  • 662.518

author list (cited authors)

  • Raghavan, M., Steinrcken, M., Harris, K., Schiffels, S., Rasmussen, S., DeGiorgio, M., ... Willerslev, E.

citation count

  • 372

complete list of authors

  • Raghavan, Maanasa||Steinrücken, Matthias||Harris, Kelley||Schiffels, Stephan||Rasmussen, Simon||DeGiorgio, Michael||Albrechtsen, Anders||Valdiosera, Cristina||Ávila-Arcos, María C||Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo||Eriksson, Anders||Moltke, Ida||Metspalu, Mait||Homburger, Julian R||Wall, Jeff||Cornejo, Omar E||Moreno-Mayar, J Víctor||Korneliussen, Thorfinn S||Pierre, Tracey||Rasmussen, Morten||Campos, Paula F||de Barros Damgaard, Peter||Allentoft, Morten E||Lindo, John||Metspalu, Ene||Rodríguez-Varela, Ricardo||Mansilla, Josefina||Henrickson, Celeste||Seguin-Orlando, Andaine||Malmström, Helena||Stafford, Thomas||Shringarpure, Suyash S||Moreno-Estrada, Andrés||Karmin, Monika||Tambets, Kristiina||Bergström, Anders||Xue, Yali||Warmuth, Vera||Friend, Andrew D||Singarayer, Joy||Valdes, Paul||Balloux, Francois||Leboreiro, Ilán||Vera, Jose Luis||Rangel-Villalobos, Hector||Pettener, Davide||Luiselli, Donata||Davis, Loren G||Heyer, Evelyne||Zollikofer, Christoph PE||Ponce de León, Marcia S||Smith, Colin I||Grimes, Vaughan||Pike, Kelly-Anne||Deal, Michael||Fuller, Benjamin T||Arriaza, Bernardo||Standen, Vivien||Luz, Maria F||Ricaut, Francois||Guidon, Niede||Osipova, Ludmila||Voevoda, Mikhail I||Posukh, Olga L||Balanovsky, Oleg||Lavryashina, Maria||Bogunov, Yuri||Khusnutdinova, Elza||Gubina, Marina||Balanovska, Elena||Fedorova, Sardana||Litvinov, Sergey||Malyarchuk, Boris||Derenko, Miroslava||Mosher, MJ||Archer, David||Cybulski, Jerome||Petzelt, Barbara||Mitchell, Joycelynn||Worl, Rosita||Norman, Paul J||Parham, Peter||Kemp, Brian M||Kivisild, Toomas||Tyler-Smith, Chris||Sandhu, Manjinder S||Crawford, Michael||Villems, Richard||Smith, David Glenn||Waters, Michael R||Goebel, Ted||Johnson, John R||Malhi, Ripan S||Jakobsson, Mattias||Meltzer, David J||Manica, Andrea||Durbin, Richard||Bustamante, Carlos D||Song, Yun S||Nielsen, Rasmus||Willerslev, Eske

publication date

  • August 2015