Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia.

Nat Commun
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Austronesian languages are spread across half the globe, from Easter Island to Madagascar. Evidence from linguistics and archaeology indicates that the 'Austronesian expansion,' which began 4,000-5,000 years ago, likely had roots in Taiwan, but the ancestry of present-day Austronesian-speaking populations remains controversial. Here, we analyse genome-wide data from 56 populations using new methods for tracing ancestral gene flow, focusing primarily on Island Southeast Asia. We show that all sampled Austronesian groups harbour ancestry that is more closely related to aboriginal Taiwanese than to any present-day mainland population. Surprisingly, western Island Southeast Asian populations have also inherited ancestry from a source nested within the variation of present-day populations speaking Austro-Asiatic languages, which have historically been nearly exclusive to the mainland. Thus, either there was once a substantial Austro-Asiatic presence in Island Southeast Asia, or Austronesian speakers migrated to and through the mainland, admixing there before continuing to western Indonesia.

Year of Publication
2014
Journal
Nat Commun
Volume
5
Pages
4689
Date Published
2014 Aug 19
ISSN
2041-1723
URL
DOI
10.1038/ncomms5689
PubMed ID
25137359
PubMed Central ID
PMC4143916
Links
Grant list
R01 GM100233 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
R01 GM108348 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
5T32HG004947-04 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
T32 HG004947 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
R01GM108348 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
GM100233 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
Howard Hughes Medical Institute / United States