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Scott GR, Navega D, Vlemincq-Mendieta T, Dern LL, O'Rourke DH, Hlusko LJ, Hoffecker JF. Peopling of the Americas: A new approach to assessing dental morphological variation in Asian and Native American populations. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 38018312 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Through biodistance analyses, anthropologists have used dental morphology to elucidate how people moved into and throughout the Americas. Here, we apply a method that focuses on individuals rather than sample frequencies through the application rASUDAS2, based on a naïve Bayes' algorithm. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using the database of C.G. Turner II, we calculated the probability that an individual could be assigned to one of seven biogeographic groups (American Arctic, North & South America, East Asia, Southeast Asia & Polynesia, Australo-Melanesia, Western Eurasia, & Sub-Saharan Africa) through rASUDAS2. The frequency of classifications for each biogeographic group was determined for 1418 individuals from six regions across Asia and the Americas. RESULTS Southeast Asians show mixed assignments but rarely to American Arctic or "American Indian." East Asians are assigned to East Asia half the time while 30% are assigned as Native American. People from the American Arctic and North & South America are assigned to Arctic America or non-Arctic America 75%-80% of the time, with 10%-15% classified as East Asian. DISCUSSION All Native American groups have a similar degree of morphological affinity to East Asia, as 10%-15% are classified as East Asian. East Asians are classified as Native American in 30% of cases. Individuals in the Western Hemisphere are decreasingly classified as Arctic the farther south they are located. Equivalent levels of classification as East Asian across all Native American groups suggests one divergence between East Asians and the population ancestral to all Native Americans. Non-arctic Native American groups are derived from the Arctic population, which represents the Native American founder group.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Richard Scott
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - David Navega
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | | | - Laresa L Dern
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Dennis H O'Rourke
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
| | | | - John F Hoffecker
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
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Malyarchuk BA. The role of Beringia in human adaptation to Arctic conditions based on results of genomic studies of modern and ancient populations. Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genet Selektsii 2023; 27:373-382. [PMID: 37465192 PMCID: PMC10350865 DOI: 10.18699/vjgb-23-45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2022] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The results of studies in Quaternary geology, archeology, paleoanthropology and human genetics demonstrate that the ancestors of Native Americans arrived in mid-latitude North America mainly along the Pacific Northwest Coast, but had previously inhabited the Arctic and during the last glacial maximum were in a refugium in Beringia, a land bridge connecting Eurasia and North America. The gene pool of Native Americans is represented by unique haplogroups of mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome, the evolutionary age of which ranges from 13 to 22 thousand years. The results of a paleogenomic analysis also show that during the last glacial maximum Beringia was populated by human groups that had arisen as a result of interaction between the most ancient Upper Paleolithic populations of Northern Eurasia and newcomer groups from East Asia. Approximately 20 thousand years ago the Beringian populations began to form, and the duration of their existence in relative isolation is estimated at about 5 thousand years. Thus, the adaptation of the Beringians to the Arctic conditions could have taken several millennia. The adaptation of Amerindian ancestors to high latitudes and cold climates is supported by genomic data showing that adaptive genetic variants in Native Americans are associated with various metabolic pathways: melanin production processes in the skin, hair and eyes, the functioning of the cardiovascular system, energy metabolism and immune response characteristics. Meanwhile, the analysis of the existing hypotheses about the selection of some genetic variants in the Beringian ancestors of the Amerindians in connection with adaptation to the Arctic conditions (for example, in the FADS, ACTN3, EDAR genes) shows the ambiguity of the testing results, which may be due to the loss of some traces of the "Beringian" adaptation in the gene pools of modern Native Americans. The most optimal strategy for further research seems to be the search for adaptive variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Malyarchuk
- Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far-East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia N.A. Shilo North-East Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Far-East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia
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da Silva Coelho FA, Gill S, Tomlin CM, Papavassiliou M, Farley SD, Cook JA, Sonsthagen SA, Sage GK, Heaton TH, Talbot SL, Lindqvist C. Ancient bears provide insights into Pleistocene ice age refugia in Southeast Alaska. Mol Ecol 2023. [PMID: 37096383 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
During the Late Pleistocene, major parts of North America were periodically covered by ice sheets. However, there are still questions about whether ice-free refugia were present in the Alexander Archipelago along the Southeast (SE) Alaska coast during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Numerous subfossils have been recovered from caves in SE Alaska, including American black (Ursus americanus) and brown (U. arctos) bears, which today are found in the Alexander Archipelago but are genetically distinct from mainland bear populations. Hence, these bear species offer an ideal system to investigate long-term occupation, potential refugial survival and lineage turnover. Here, we present genetic analyses based on 99 new complete mitochondrial genomes from ancient and modern brown and black bears spanning the last ~45,000 years. Black bears form two SE Alaskan subclades, one preglacial and another postglacial, that diverged >100,000 years ago. All postglacial ancient brown bears are closely related to modern brown bears in the archipelago, while a single preglacial brown bear is found in a distantly related clade. A hiatus in the bear subfossil record around the LGM and the deep split of their pre- and postglacial subclades fail to support a hypothesis of continuous occupancy in SE Alaska throughout the LGM for either species. Our results are consistent with an absence of refugia along the SE Alaska coast, but indicate that vegetation quickly expanded after deglaciation, allowing bears to recolonize the area after a short-lived LGM peak.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephanie Gill
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Crystal M Tomlin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | | | - Sean D Farley
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
| | - Joseph A Cook
- Museum of Southwestern Biology and Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Sarah A Sonsthagen
- U.S. Geological Survey, Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Natural Resources, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
| | - George K Sage
- Far Northwestern Institute of Art and Science, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
| | - Timothy H Heaton
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, USA
| | - Sandra L Talbot
- Far Northwestern Institute of Art and Science, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
| | - Charlotte Lindqvist
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA
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Lesnek AJ. Windows of opportunity for the peopling of the Americas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2300979120. [PMID: 36848550 PMCID: PMC10013856 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2300979120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alia J. Lesnek
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY11367
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Ice and ocean constraints on early human migrations into North America along the Pacific coast. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2208738120. [PMID: 36745804 PMCID: PMC9963817 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2208738120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Founding populations of the first Americans likely occupied parts of Beringia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The timing, pathways, and modes of their southward transit remain unknown, but blockage of the interior route by North American ice sheets between ~26 and 14 cal kyr BP (ka) favors a coastal route during this period. Using models and paleoceanographic data from the North Pacific, we identify climatically favorable intervals when humans could have plausibly traversed the Cordilleran coastal corridor during the terminal Pleistocene. Model simulations suggest that northward coastal currents strengthened during the LGM and at times of enhanced freshwater input, making southward transit by boat more difficult. Repeated Cordilleran glacial-calving events would have further challenged coastal transit on land and at sea. Following these events, ice-free coastal areas opened and seasonal sea ice was present along the Alaskan margin until at least 15 ka. Given evidence for humans south of the ice sheets by 16 ka and possibly earlier, we posit that early people may have taken advantage of winter sea ice that connected islands and coastal refugia. Marine ice-edge habitats offer a rich food supply and traversing coastal sea ice could have mitigated the difficulty of traveling southward in watercraft or on land over glaciers. We identify 24.5 to 22 ka and 16.4 to 14.8 ka as environmentally favorable time periods for coastal migration, when climate conditions provided both winter sea ice and ice-free summer conditions that facilitated year-round marine resource diversity and multiple modes of mobility along the North Pacific coast.
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Hoffecker JF, Elias SA, Scott GR, O'Rourke DH, Hlusko LJ, Potapova O, Pitulko V, Pavlova E, Bourgeon L, Vachula RS. Beringia and the peopling of the Western Hemisphere. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222246. [PMID: 36629115 PMCID: PMC9832545 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Did Beringian environments represent an ecological barrier to humans until less than 15 000 years ago or was access to the Americas controlled by the spatial-temporal distribution of North American ice sheets? Beringian environments varied with respect to climate and biota, especially in the two major areas of exposed continental shelf. The East Siberian Arctic Shelf ('Great Arctic Plain' (GAP)) supported a dry steppe-tundra biome inhabited by a diverse large-mammal community, while the southern Bering-Chukchi Platform ('Bering Land Bridge' (BLB)) supported mesic tundra and probably a lower large-mammal biomass. A human population with west Eurasian roots occupied the GAP before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and may have accessed mid-latitude North America via an interior ice-free corridor. Re-opening of the corridor less than 14 000 years ago indicates that the primary ancestors of living First Peoples, who already had spread widely in the Americas at this time, probably dispersed from the NW Pacific coast. A genetic 'arctic signal' in non-arctic First Peoples suggests that their parent population inhabited the GAP during the LGM, before their split from the former. We infer a shift from GAP terrestrial to a subarctic maritime economy on the southern BLB coast before dispersal in the Americas from the NW Pacific coast.
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Affiliation(s)
- John F. Hoffecker
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA,Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, 622 Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
| | - Scott A. Elias
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - G. Richard Scott
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada-Reno, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA
| | - Dennis H. O'Rourke
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, 622 Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
| | - Leslea J. Hlusko
- Human Evolution Research Center, University of California-Berkeley, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA,Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
| | - Olga Potapova
- Pleistocene Park Foundation, Philadelphia, PA 19006, USA,Department of Mammoth Fauna Studies, Academy of Sciences of Sakha, Yakutsk, Russia,The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, Hot Springs, SD 57747, USA
| | - Vladimir Pitulko
- Institute of the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab., 18, 191186 St Petersburg, Russia,Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, 3, Universitetskaya nab., St Petersburg 199034, Russian Federation
| | - Elena Pavlova
- Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, 38 Bering Street, 199397 St Petersburg, Russia
| | - Lauriane Bourgeon
- Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, 1930 Constant Ave., Lawrence, KS 66047, USA
| | - Richard S. Vachula
- Department of Geosciences, Auburn University, 2050 Beard Eaves Coliseum, Auburn, AL 36849-5305, USA
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