Analyses of Neanderthal introgression suggest that Levantine and southern Arabian populations have a shared population history

Bibliographic Data

ID8320102
AuthorsDeven N Vyas (0000-0001-7363-7481, Department of Anthropology University of Florida Gainesville Florida, corresponding author), C J Mulligan (0000-0002-4360-2402, Department of Anthropology University of Florida Gainesville Florida)
Year2019
Volume169
Issue2
Pages227-239
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.23818
PMID30889271
OpenAlexW2950292414
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited70

OBJECTIVES: Modern humans are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals in the Near East soon after modern humans dispersed out of Africa. This introgression event likely took place in either the Levant or southern Arabia depending on the dispersal route out of Africa that was followed. In this study, we compare Neanderthal introgression in contemporary Levantine and southern Arabian populations to investigate Neanderthal introgression and to study Near Eastern population history. MATERIALS AND METHODS: and D statistics to estimate and compare levels of Neanderthal introgression between Levantine, southern Arabian, and comparative global populations. We also identified 1,581 putative Neanderthal-introgressed SNPs within our dataset and analyzed their allele frequencies as a means to compare introgression patterns in Levantine and southern Arabian genomes. RESULTS: We find that Levantine and southern Arabian populations have similar levels of Neanderthal introgression to each other but lower levels than other non-Africans. Furthermore, we find that introgressed SNPs have very similar allele frequencies in the Levant and southern Arabia, which indicates that Neanderthal introgression is similarly distributed in Levantine and southern Arabian genomes. DISCUSSION: We infer that the ancestors of contemporary Levantine and southern Arabian populations received Neanderthal introgression prior to separating from each other and that there has been extensive gene flow between these populations

Archaeology · Biology · Evolutionary biology · Gene · Gene flow · Genetic variation · Geography · Introgression · Neanderthal · Population · Zoology · Demography · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Genetics · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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