title: Deep human genealogies reveal a selective advantage to be on an expanding wave front.
abstract: Since their origin, human populations have colonized the whole planet, but the demographic processes governing range expansions are mostly unknown. We analyzed the genealogy of more than one million individuals resulting from a range expansion in Quebec between 1686 and 1960 and reconstructed the spatial dynamics of the expansion. We find that a majority of the present Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean population can be traced back to ancestors having lived directly on or close to the wave front. Ancestors located on the front contributed significantly more to the current gene pool than those from the range core, likely due to a 20% larger effective fertility of women on the wave front. This fitness component is heritable on the wave front and not in the core, implying that this life-history trait evolves during range expansions.
authors: Centre de Recherche, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, 3175 Côte Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors: Claudia
authors: C
authors: Moreau
authors: Claude
authors: C
authors: Bhérer
authors: Hélène
authors: H
authors: Vézina
authors: Michèle
authors: M
authors: Jomphe
authors: Damian
authors: D
authors: Labuda
authors: Laurent
authors: L
authors: Excoffier
mesh_terms: D003710:Demography; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D005788:Gene Pool; D005796:Genes; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D010375:Pedigree; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011792:Quebec; D012042:Registries; D012098:Reproduction; D012641:Selection, Genetic