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Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter?

ABSTRACT: We challenge the view that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved within a single population and/or region of Africa. The chronology and physical diversity of Pleistocene human fossils suggest that morphologically varied populations pertaining to the H. sapiens clade lived throughout Africa. Similarly, the African archaeological record demonstrates the polycentric origin and persistence of regionally distinct Pleistocene material culture in a variety of paleoecological settings. Genetic studies also indicate that present-day population structure within Africa extends to deep times, paralleling a paleoenvironmental record of shifting and fractured habitable zones. We argue that these fields support an emerging view of a highly structured African prehistory that should be considered in human evolutionary inferences, prompting new interpretations, questions, and interdisciplinary research directions.

SUBMITTER: Scerri EML

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6092560 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter?

Scerri Eleanor M L EML Thomas Mark G MG Manica Andrea A Gunz Philipp P Stock Jay T JT Stringer Chris C Grove Matt M Groucutt Huw S HS Timmermann Axel A Rightmire G Philip GP d'Errico Francesco F Tryon Christian A CA Drake Nick A NA Brooks Alison S AS Dennell Robin W RW Durbin Richard R Henn Brenna M BM Lee-Thorp Julia J deMenocal Peter P Petraglia Michael D MD Thompson Jessica C JC Scally Aylwyn A Chikhi Lounès L

Trends in ecology & evolution 20180711 8

We challenge the view that our species, Homo sapiens, evolved within a single population and/or region of Africa. The chronology and physical diversity of Pleistocene human fossils suggest that morphologically varied populations pertaining to the H. sapiens clade lived throughout Africa. Similarly, the African archaeological record demonstrates the polycentric origin and persistence of regionally distinct Pleistocene material culture in a variety of paleoecological settings. Genetic studies also ...[more]

PMID: 30007846

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Project description:Extant populations of the European wildcat are fragmented across the continent, the likely consequence of recent extirpations due to habitat loss and over-hunting. However, their underlying phylogeographic history has never been reconstructed. For testing the hypothesis that the European wildcat survived the Ice Age fragmented in Mediterranean refuges, we assayed the genetic variation at 31 microsatellites in 668 presumptive European wildcats sampled in 15 European countries. Moreover, to evaluate the extent of subspecies/population divergence and identify eventual wild × domestic cat hybrids, we genotyped 26 African wildcats from Sardinia and North Africa and 294 random-bred domestic cats. Results of multivariate analyses and Bayesian clustering confirmed that the European wild and the domestic cats (plus the African wildcats) belong to two well-differentiated clusters (average ? ST = 0.159, r st = 0.392, P > 0.001; Analysis of molecular variance [AMOVA]). We identified from c. 5% to 10% cryptic hybrids in southern and central European populations. In contrast, wild-living cats in Hungary and Scotland showed deep signatures of genetic admixture and introgression with domestic cats. The European wildcats are subdivided into five main genetic clusters (average ? ST = 0.103, r st = 0.143, P > 0.001; AMOVA) corresponding to five biogeographic groups, respectively, distributed in the Iberian Peninsula, central Europe, central Germany, Italian Peninsula and the island of Sicily, and in north-eastern Italy and northern Balkan regions (Dinaric Alps). Approximate Bayesian Computation simulations supported late Pleistocene-early Holocene population splittings (from c. 60 k to 10 k years ago), contemporary to the last Ice Age climatic changes. These results provide evidences for wildcat Mediterranean refuges in southwestern Europe, but the evolution history of eastern wildcat populations remains to be clarified. Historical genetic subdivisions suggest conservation strategies aimed at enhancing gene flow through the restoration of ecological corridors within each biogeographic units. Concomitantly, the risk of hybridization with free-ranging domestic cats along corridor edges should be carefully monitored.

Dataset Information

Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter?

Publications

Did Our Species Evolve in Subdivided Populations across Africa, and Why Does It Matter?

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