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Ancient Ethiopian genome reveals extensive Eurasian admixture throughout the African continent.


Type

Article

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Authors

Gallego Llorente, Marcos 
Jones, Eppie 
Siska, Veronika 
Arthur, KW 

Abstract

Characterizing genetic diversity in Africa is a crucial step for most analyses reconstructing the evolutionary history of anatomically modern humans. However, historic migrations from Eurasia into Africa have affected many contemporary populations, confounding inferences. Here, we present a 12.5× coverage ancient genome of an Ethiopian male ("Mota") who lived approximately 4500 years ago. We use this genome to demonstrate that the Eurasian backflow into Africa came from a population closely related to Early Neolithic farmers, who had colonized Europe 4000 years earlier. The extent of this backflow was much greater than previously reported, reaching all the way to Central, West, and Southern Africa, affecting even populations such as Yoruba and Mbuti, previously thought to be relatively unadmixed, who harbor 6 to 7% Eurasian ancestry.

Description

Keywords

African Continental Ancestry Group, Asia, Biological Evolution, Ethiopia, Europe, Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Human Migration, Humans, Male

Journal Title

Science

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0036-8075
1095-9203

Volume Title

350

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sponsorship
European Research Council (617627)
ECH2020 EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL (ERC) (647787)