Single, rapid coastal settlement of Asia revealed by analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes.
A recent dispersal of modern humans out of Africa is now widely accepted, but the routes taken across Eurasia are still disputed. We show that mitochondrial DNA variation in isolated "relict" populations in southeast Asia supports the view that there was only a single dispersal from Africa, most likely via a southern coastal route, through India and onward into southeast Asia and Australasia. There was an early offshoot, leading ultimately to the settlement of the Near East and Europe, but the main dispersal from India to Australia approximately 65,000 years ago was rapid, most likely taking only a few thousand years.
Macaulay
Vincent
V
Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK. vincent@stats.gla.ac.uk
Hill
Catherine
C
Achilli
Alessandro
A
Rengo
Chiara
C
Clarke
Douglas
D
Meehan
William
W
Blackburn
James
J
Semino
Ornella
O
Scozzari
Rosaria
R
Cruciani
Fulvio
F
Taha
Adi
A
Shaari
Norazila Kassim
NK
Raja
Joseph Maripa
JM
Ismail
Patimah
P
Zainuddin
Zafarina
Z
Goodwin
William
W
Bulbeck
David
D
Bandelt
Hans-Jürgen
HJ
Oppenheimer
Stephen
S
Torroni
Antonio
A
Richards
Martin
M
D000349:Africa; D001208:Asia; D044362:Australasia; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D018703:Founder Effect; D040961:Genetic Drift; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D015894:Genome, Human; D006239:Haplotypes; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008296:Malaysia; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013995:Time
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial