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Human adaptation and population differentiation in the light of ancient genomes

Author

Listed:
  • Felix M. Key

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Qiaomei Fu

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, IVPP, CAS
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Frédéric Romagné

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Michael Lachmann

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    Santa Fe Institute)

  • Aida M. Andrés

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

Abstract

The influence of positive selection sweeps in human evolution is increasingly debated, although our ability to detect them is hampered by inherent uncertainties in the timing of past events. Ancient genomes provide snapshots of allele frequencies in the past and can help address this question. We combine modern and ancient genomic data in a simple statistic (DAnc) to time allele frequency changes, and investigate the role of drift and adaptation in population differentiation. Only 30% of the most strongly differentiated alleles between Africans and Eurasians changed in frequency during the colonization of Eurasia, but in Europe these alleles are enriched in genic and putatively functional alleles to an extent only compatible with local adaptation. Adaptive alleles—especially those associated with pigmentation—are mostly of hunter-gatherer origin, although lactose persistence arose in a haplotype present in farmers. These results provide evidence for a role of local adaptation in human population differentiation.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix M. Key & Qiaomei Fu & Frédéric Romagné & Michael Lachmann & Aida M. Andrés, 2016. "Human adaptation and population differentiation in the light of ancient genomes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10775
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10775
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Baudin & Keiti Kondi, 2023. "Integration Vs Cultural Persistence: Fertility and Working Time among Second-Generation Migrants in France," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023002, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).

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