Ancient Ethiopian genome reveals extensive Eurasian admixture in Eastern Africa

M. Gallego Llorente, E. R. Jones, Anders Eriksson, V. Siska, K. W. Arthur, J. W. Arthur, M. C. Curtis, J. T. Stock, M. Coltorti, P. Pieruccini, S. Stretton, F. Brock, T. Higham, Y. Park, M. Hofreiter, D. G. Bradley, J. Bhak, R. Pinhasi, A. Manica

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

218 Scopus citations

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.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)820-822
Number of pages3
JournalScience
Volume350
Issue number6262
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 8 2015

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KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01

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