title: Genetic evidence for patrilocal mating behavior among Neandertal groups.
abstract: The remains of 12 Neandertal individuals have been found at the El Sidrón site (Asturias, Spain), consisting of six adults, three adolescents, two juveniles, and one infant. Archaeological, paleontological, and geological evidence indicates that these individuals represent all or part of a contemporaneous social group of Neandertals, who died at around the same time and later were buried together as a result of a collapse of an underground karst. We sequenced phylogenetically informative positions of mtDNA hypervariable regions 1 and 2 from each of the remains. Our results show that the 12 individuals stem from three different maternal lineages, accounting for seven, four, and one individual(s), respectively. Using a Y-chromosome assay to confirm the morphological determination of sex for each individual, we found that, although the three adult males carried the same mtDNA lineage, each of the three adult females carried different mtDNA lineages. These findings provide evidence to indicate that Neandertal groups not only were small and characterized by low genetic diversity but also were likely to have practiced patrilocal mating behavior.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain. carles.lalueza@upf.edu
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lalueza-Fox
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosas
authors.forename: Almudena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Estalrrich
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gigli
authors.forename: Paula F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Tabernero
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: García-Vargas
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Quinto
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Civit
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bastir
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huguet
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santamaría
authors.forename: M Thomas P
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: Eske
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Willerslev
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de la Rasilla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002648:Child; D019295:Computational Biology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015186:Hominidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013030:Spain; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial