title: New genetic and linguistic analyses show ancient human influence on baobab evolution and distribution in Australia.
abstract: This study investigates the role of human agency in the gene flow and geographical distribution of the Australian baobab, Adansonia gregorii. The genus Adansonia is a charismatic tree endemic to Africa, Madagascar, and northwest Australia that has long been valued by humans for its multiple uses. The distribution of genetic variation in baobabs in Africa has been partially attributed to human-mediated dispersal over millennia, but this relationship has never been investigated for the Australian species. We combined genetic and linguistic data to analyse geographic patterns of gene flow and movement of word-forms for A. gregorii in the Aboriginal languages of northwest Australia. Comprehensive assessment of genetic diversity showed weak geographic structure and high gene flow. Of potential dispersal vectors, humans were identified as most likely to have enabled gene flow across biogeographic barriers in northwest Australia. Genetic-linguistic analysis demonstrated congruence of gene flow patterns and directional movement of Aboriginal loanwords for A. gregorii. These findings, along with previous archaeobotanical evidence from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, suggest that ancient humans significantly influenced the geographic distribution of Adansonia in northwest Australia.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Melbourne VIC, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Haripriya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rangan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Melbourne VIC, 3800, Australia; Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, South Yarra, VIC, 3141, Australia.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, United States of America.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Melbourne VIC, 3800, Australia; Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, South Yarra, VIC, 3141, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.affiliation: School of Language Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McConvell
authors.affiliation: Independent Researcher-Linguist, PO Box 10, Derby, WA, 6728, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Linguistics, School of Culture, History, and Language, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia; Linguistics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stef
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spronck
authors.affiliation: Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Melbourne VIC, 3800, Australia; Institut de Géographie et Durabilité, Universitie de Lausanne, Lausanne, CH, 1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christian A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kull
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, South Yarra, VIC, 3141, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D035162:Adansonia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001315:Australia; D004058:Diffusion; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D051456:Gene Flow; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D010802:Phylogeny; D058614:Seed Dispersal
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