In:
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, The Royal Society, Vol. 354, No. 1379 ( 1999-01-29), p. 141-152
Abstract:
Present–day Pacific islanders are thought to be the descendants of Neolithic agriculturalists who expanded from island South–east Asia several thousand years ago. They speak languages belonging to the Austronesian language family, spoken today in an area spanning half the circumference of the world, from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from Taiwan to New Zealand. To investigate the genetic affinities of the Austronesian–speaking peoples, we analysed mitochondrial DNA, HLA and Y chromosome polymorphisms in individuals from eight geographical locations in Asia and the Pacific (China, Taiwan, Java, New Guinea highlands, New Guinea coast, Trobriand Islands, New Britain and Western Samoa). Our results show that the demographic expansion of the Austronesians has left a genetic footprint. However, there is no simple correlation between languages and genes in the Pacific.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0962-8436
,
1471-2970
DOI:
10.1098/rstb.1999.0367
Language:
English
Publisher:
The Royal Society
Publication Date:
1999
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1462620-2
SSG:
12
