Genetic evidence for the colonization of Australia

Genetic evidence for the colonization of Australia

Quaternary International Volume 285, 8 February 2013, Pages 44–56

Genetic evidence for the colonization of Australia

Sheila van Holst Pellekaan et al.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome and, more recently, genome studies from living people have produced powerful evidence for the dispersal of modern human populations. The prevailing model of global dispersion assumes an African origin in which Australia and the American continents represent some of the extreme regions of human migration, though the relative timing of dispersal events remains debatable. Here, a focus on Australia and New Guinea discusses currently available genetic evidence from the two regions, compared with that from Asia. Mt haplotypes indicate ancient ancestry for both Australia and New Guinea peoples, with evidence of some shared genetic connection and other unshared haplogroups apparently specific to both places. Migration into Sahul from south-east Asia may have been by more complex routes than only along a ‘southern coastal route’, raising the question of possible common ancestry in central or northern Asia for some Australian and American peoples for which current genetic evidence is tenuous. Although current dating methods for genetic diversity rely heavily on several assumptions, best estimates provide support for archaeological dates, indicating that, relative to the colonization of America, Australia was inhabited very early. Genetic diversity of living descendants of Australia’s founding populations is informative for dispersal within Australia and for understanding complex population histories of Asia.

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Gene flow between Indian populations and Australasia ~4,000 years ago

Gene flow between Indian populations and Australasia ~4,000 years ago

Only the press release is available so far, I will add the paper abstract when I see it on the PNAS website:

Researcher Irina Pugach and colleagues now analysed genetic variation from across the genome from aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, island Southeast Asians, and Indians. Their findings suggest substantial gene flow from India to Australia 4,230 years ago. i.e. during the Holocene and well before European contact. “Interestingly,” says Pugach, “this date also coincides with many changes in the archaeological record of Australia, which include a sudden change in plant processing and stone tool technologies, with microliths appearing for the first time, and the first appearance of the dingo in the fossil record. Since we detect inflow of genes from India into Australia at around the same time, it is likely that these changes were related to this migration.” 

Their analyses also reveal a common origin for populations from Australia, New Guinea and the Mamanwa – a Negrito group from the Philippines – and they estimated that these groups split from each other about 36,000 years ago. Mark Stoneking says: “This finding supports the view that these populations represent the descendants of an early ‘southern route’ migration out of Africa, while other populations in the region arrived later by a separate dispersal.“ This also indicates that Australians and New Guineans diverged early in the history of Sahul, and not when the lands were separated by rising sea waters around 8,000 years ago.

A relationship between Indian and Australasian populations has long been suspected on various grounds (e.g., HGDP Papuans often show membership in a "South Asian" ancestral component at low levels of resolution). It will be interesting to see the model proposed in the new paper about the admixture event leading to modern Australasians.

UPDATE: Ed Yong covers the story in Nature News:

Some aboriginal Australians can trace as much as 11% of their genomes to migrants who reached the island around 4,000 years ago from India, a study suggests. Along with their genes, the migrants brought different tool-making techniques and the ancestors of the dingo, researchers say1.

From World News Australia:

The study suggests that in addition to an earlier northern route of migration out of Africa, into Asia, and then South East Asia about 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, the second wave occurred much later, arriving during the Holocene period about 4,230 years ago.
...
“About that point in the archaeological record, there were significant changes in the use of stone tools, in hunting techniques and significantly, the introduction of the dingo,” Professor Cooper said.
...
There are other theories that may support the evidence of a more recent influx of migrants from India, including that they brought with them a disease of epidemic proportions that wiped out earlier Aboriginal populations.

UPDATE II: I added the abstract.

PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211927110

Genome-wide data substantiate Holocene gene flow from India to Australia 

Irina Pugach et al.

The Australian continent holds some of the earliest archaeological evidence for the expansion of modern humans out of Africa, with initial occupation at least 40,000 y ago. It is commonly assumed that Australia remained largely isolated following initial colonization, but the genetic history of Australians has not been explored in detail to address this issue. Here, we analyze large-scale genotyping data from aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, island Southeast Asians and Indians. We find an ancient association between Australia, New Guinea, and the Mamanwa (a Negrito group from the Philippines), with divergence times for these groups estimated at 36,000 y ago, and supporting the view that these populations represent the descendants of an early “southern route” migration out of Africa, whereas other populations in the region arrived later by a separate dispersal. We also detect a signal indicative of substantial gene flow between the Indian populations and Australia well before European contact, contrary to the prevailing view that there was no contact between Australia and the rest of the world. We estimate this gene flow to have occurred during the Holocene, 4,230 y ago. This is also approximately when changes in tool technology, food processing, and the dingo appear in the Australian archaeological record, suggesting that these may be related to the migration from India.

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A different look at the Olympic Medal Count

A different look at the Olympic Medal Count

The Athens Olympics are now over and Greece won 16 medals. The best-performing nations, according to the official medal count are the United States, China, Russia, Australia and Japan. A different look at the medal count of the Olympics comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics which has compiled a world ranking based on population per gold medal. The Bahamas, Norway, Australia, Hungary and Cuba lead this ranking, with Greece placing 8th. At the bottom of the table, Syria, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria and India.

Athens 2004

Athens 2004

Dae Sung Moon, right, from Korea, competes against Alexandros Nikolaidis, from Greece, in the men's over 80 kg taekwondo gold medal match at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug 29, 2004. Moon won the gold medal. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)



Gold medallist Moon Sung Dae (C) of South Korea (news - web sites), silver medallist Alexandros Nikolaidis (L) of Greece and bronze medallist Pascal Gentil of France wave during the medal ceremony for the over 80kg taekwondo tournament final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 29, 2004. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon



China's Luo Wei (L) is kicked by Greece's Elisavet Mystakidou during the women's under 67 kg gold medal taekwondo match at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 28, 2004. China's Luo Wei won the taekwondo women's under 67kg gold medal at the Olympics on Saturday, Greece's Elisavet Mystakidou took the silver and South Korea's Hwang Kyung-sun the bronze. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

 

ATHENS - AUGUST 28: Elisavet Mystakidou of Greece shows her silver medal after the medal for the women's under 67 kg Taekwondo event on August 28, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Sports Pavilion part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)



Greece's Mirela Manjani competes in the women's javelin throw final at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 27, 2004. Manjani won the bronze medal. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich





   

Cuban women's javelin gold medalist Osleidys Menendez, centre, is flanked by Germany's Steffi Nerius, silver, left, and Greece's Mirela Manjani, bronze, following the medal presentation ceremony at the 2004 Olympic Games in The Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 27, 2004.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)



Italy's Alexandra Araujo (L) and Evangelia Moraitidou of Greece fight for position during the women's Olympic water polo gold medal match in Athens, August 26, 2004. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh



Greece players celebrate their silver medal placing in the women's Olympic water polo gold medal match against Italy during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 26, 2004. Greece were beaten 10-9 by Italy in extra-time. REUTERS/Andy Clark



Fani Halkia of Greece celebrates crossing the line to win the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Olympic Games Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 in Athens, Greece. Jana Pittman, 2nd left, of Australia, and silver medalist Ionela Manolache, right, of Romania, follow. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)



ATHENS - AUGUST 25: Gold medalist Fani Halkia of Greece celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony of the women's 400 metre hurdle event on August 25, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in the Sports Complex in Athens, Greece. Ionela Tirlea-Manolache of Romania came second and Tetiana Tereshchuk-Antipova of Ukraine came third. (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)



Greece's Artiom Kiouregkian (top) grapples with Ukraine's Olesksiy Vakulenko (bottom) on his way to win the bronze medal in their men's Greco-Roman (under 55kg) wrestling bout at the Athens 2004 Olympics August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Yves Herman



Greece's Bronze medallist Artiom Kiouregkian, Hungary's gold medallist Istvan Majoros and Russia's silver medallist Gueidar Mamedaliev (R-L) stand on the podium during the award ceremony for the men's Greco-Roman (under 55kg) wrestling at the Athens 2004 Olympics August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings





Greece's Nikolaos Kaklamanakis pumps his sail in light winds on his way to winning the silver medal in the men's mistral class at the Olympic Sailing venue during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 25, 2004. REUTERS/Nigel Marple



Greece's Nikolaos Kaklamanakis sailing in men's windsurfer mistral shows thumbs up at award ceremony after wining silver medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games regatta August 25, 2004.



Greece's Hrysopiyi Devetzi competes in the women's triple jump at Olympic Stadium at the 2004 Olympic Games August 23, 2004. Devetzi won the silver medal in the event. REUTERS/Jason Reed



Medalists for the women's triple jump (L-R) Greece's Hrysopiyi Devetzi, silver medal winner, Cameroon's Francoise Mbango Etone, gold medal winner and Russia's Tatana Lebedeva, bronze medal winner, pose during the medals ceremony at Olympic Stadium at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 23, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Blake



Greece's Athanasia Tsoumeleka celebrates after winning the women's 20km walk. Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova won the silver and Australia's Jane Saville won bronze.(AFP/Jeff Haynes)



Greece's Athanasia Tsoumeleka carries her national flag as she wears her gold medal for the women's 20 km walk at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 23, 2004. Tsoumeleka won the gold in a time of one hour 29.12 minutes ahead of Russia's Olimpiada Ivanova and Australia's Jane Saville. REUTERS/Mike Blake


Greece's Dimosthenis Tampakos performs his gold medal routine on the rings during the men's gymnastics individual apparatus finals at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games (news - web sites) in Athens, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)



Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece (C) celebrates his gold medal with silver medallist Jordan Jovtchev of Bulgaria (L) and bronze medallist Yuri Chechi of Italy, after their rings event at the gymnastics competition at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 22, 2004. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause



Greek rower Vasileios Plymeros (L) raises his arm in victory after he and team mate Nikolaos Skiathitis won their heat in the lightweight men's double sculls during competition at the Athens 2004 Olympics August 15, 2004. The Greek team had a time of six minutes 15.22 seconds. REUTERS/Andy Clark



Silver medalists Pascal Touron, left, and Frederic Dufour of France, gold medalists Tomasz Kucharski, third from right, and Robert Sycz of Poland, and bronze medalists Vasileios Polymeros and Nikolaos Skiathitis of Greece, right, wave on the podium after the Men's Lightweight Double Sculls event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Schinias near Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)



ATHENS, Greece: Anastasia Kelesidou of Greece competes in the women's discus throw final, 21 August 2004, during the Olympic Games athletics competitions at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.Sadova won the gold. Kelesidou won the silver medal, Natalya Sadova of Russia won the gold and Irina Yatchenko of Belarus won the bronze. AFP PHOTO/JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)



ATHENS, Greece: Anastasia Kelesidou of Greece holds up her national flag after she won silver in the women's discus throw final, 21 August 2004, during the Olympic Games athletics competitions at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.Kelesidou won the silver medal, Natalya Sadova of Russia won the gold and Irina Yatchenko of Belarus won the bronze. AFP PHOTO/TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA (Photo credit should read TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)



Pyrros Dimas of Greece looks to the crowd of his countrymen while lifting 375 lbs (170 kg) in the snatch during the Men's 187 lb (85 kg) event at the Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall during the Summer Olympics in Athens, Saturday Aug. 21, 2004. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)



Georgia's George Asanidze (C),lanked by silver medallist Belarus' Andrei Rybakou (L) and Greece's bronze medallist Pyrros Dimas, celebrates on the podium after he won the gold medal in the men's weightlifting 85kg event. REUTERS/Andrea Comas



Greek skipper Sofia BEKATOROU (L) and crew member Emilia TSOULFA as they cross the finish line, during the Women's Double-handed Dinghy-470 race nine, 19 August 2004, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The Greek pair went on to win the gold Medal.



Greek 470 class skipper Sofia Bekatorou, right, and crew Aimilia Tsoulfa wave during the medal ceremony of the women's double-handed 470 dinghy sailing event at the 2004 Olympic Games (news - web sites) in Athens, Greece, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004. The Greek team won the Gold medal. (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)



Greece's Olympic champion Ilias Iliadis (R) grapples with Ukraine's Roman Gontyuk (L) on his way to win the gold medal in their men's judo half-middleweight (under 81kg) competition at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 17, 2004. REUTERS/Charles Platiau



Medal winners pose together during the victory ceremony after the Judo men's half-middle weight (-81 kg) event during the Summer Olympics in Athens, Tuesday Aug. 17, 2004. From left is silver medalist Roman Gontyuk of the Ukraine, gold medalist Ilias Iliadis of Greece, bronze medalists Robert Krawczyk of Poland and Flavio Canto of Brazil. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)



Greece's Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis dive in the men's synchronised 3-metre diving final to take the gold medal at the Athens 2005 Olympic Games, August 16, 2004. Host nation Greece won its first gold medal of the Athens Olympics on Monday when Siranidis and Bimis triumphed in the men's synchronised 3-metre diving. REUTERS/Arko Datta



Gold medal winners in the men's Olympic synchronised diving 3 metre springboard final Thomas Bimis (L) and Nikolaos Siranidis of Greece (C) stand on podium and wave to the crowd during the medal ceremony in Athens, August 16, 2004. REUTERS/Toby Melville