Evolutionary history and adaptation of a human pygmy population of Flores Island, Indonesia
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Publication Date
August 2018
Abstract
Flores Island, Indonesia, was inhabited by the small-bodied hominin species Homo floresiensis, which has an unknown evolutionary relationship to modern humans. This island is also home to an extant human pygmy population. Here we describe genome-scale single-nucleotide polymorphism data and whole-genome sequences from a contemporary human pygmy population living on Flores near the cave where H. floresiensis was found. The genomes of Flores pygmies reveal a complex history of admixture with Denisovans and Neanderthals but no evidence for gene flow with other archaic hominins. Modern individuals bear the signatures of recent positive selection encompassing the FADS (fatty acid desaturase) gene cluster, likely related to diet, and polygenic selection acting on standing variation that contributed to their short-stature phenotype. Thus, multiple independent instances of hominin insular dwarfism occurred on Flores.
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Article
Notes
Science, Vol. 361, no. 6401 (2018-08-03).
Identifier
SFS0071733_00001
Recommended Citation
Tucci, Serena; Vohr, Samuel H.; and McCoy, Rajiv C., "Evolutionary history and adaptation of a human pygmy population of Flores Island, Indonesia" (2018). KIP Articles. 1811.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/1811
