title: The genetic origins of the Andaman Islanders.
abstract: Mitochondrial sequences were retrieved from museum specimens of the enigmatic Andaman Islanders to analyze their evolutionary history. D-loop and protein-coding data reveal that phenotypic similarities with African pygmoid groups are convergent. Genetic and epigenetic data are interpreted as favoring the long-term isolation of the Andamanese, extensive population substructure, and/or two temporally distinct settlements. An early colonization featured populations bearing mtDNA lineage M2, and this lineage is hypothesized to represent the phylogenetic signal of an early southern movement of humans through Asia. The results demonstrate that Victorian anthropological collections can be used to study extinct, or seriously admixed populations, to provide new data about early human origins.
authors.affiliation: Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS England.
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Endicott
authors.forename: M Thomas P
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stringer
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lalueza-Fox
authors.forename: Eske
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Willerslev
authors.forename: Anders J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000883:Anthropology; D001208:Asia; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009144:Museums; D010802:Phylogeny; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial