Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation

At least since the Neolithic, humans have largely lived in networks of small, traditional communities. Often socially isolated, these groups evolved distinct languages and cultures over microgeographic scales of just tens of kilometers. Population genetic theory tells us that genetic drift should ac...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cox, Murray P., Hudjashov, Georgi, Sim, Andre, Savina, Olga, Karafet, Tatiana M., Sudoyo, Herawati, Lansing, John Stephen
Other Authors: Earth Observatory of Singapore
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86630
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44155
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
id sg-ntu-dr.10356-86630
record_format dspace
spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-866302022-02-16T16:26:52Z Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation Cox, Murray P. Hudjashov, Georgi Sim, Andre Savina, Olga Karafet, Tatiana M. Sudoyo, Herawati Lansing, John Stephen Earth Observatory of Singapore Complexity Institute Genetic Diversity Linguistic Diversity At least since the Neolithic, humans have largely lived in networks of small, traditional communities. Often socially isolated, these groups evolved distinct languages and cultures over microgeographic scales of just tens of kilometers. Population genetic theory tells us that genetic drift should act quickly in such isolated groups, thus raising the question: do networks of small human communities maintain levels of genetic diversity over microgeographic scales? This question can no longer be asked in most parts of the world, which have been heavily impacted by historical events that make traditional society structures the exception. However, such studies remain possible in parts of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, where traditional ways of life are still practiced. We captured genome-wide genetic data, together with linguistic records, for a case–study system—eight villages distributed across Sumba, a small, remote island in eastern Indonesia. More than 4,000 years after these communities were established during the Neolithic period, most speak different languages and can be distinguished genetically. Yet their nuclear diversity is not reduced, instead being comparable to other, even much larger, regional groups. Modeling reveals a separation of time scales: while languages and culture can evolve quickly, creating social barriers, sporadic migration averaged over many generations is sufficient to keep villages linked genetically. This loosely-connected network structure, once the global norm and still extant on Sumba today, provides a living proxy to explore fine-scale genome dynamics in the sort of small traditional communities within which the most recent episodes of human evolution occurred. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) Published version 2017-12-15T07:32:57Z 2019-12-06T16:26:08Z 2017-12-15T07:32:57Z 2019-12-06T16:26:08Z 2016 Journal Article Cox, M. P., Hudjashov, G., Sim, A., Savina, O., Karafet, T. M., Sudoyo, H., et al. (2016). Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 33(9), 2273-2284. 0737-4038 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86630 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44155 10.1093/molbev/msw099 27274003 en Molecular Biology and Evolution © 2016 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com 12 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Genetic Diversity
Linguistic Diversity
spellingShingle Genetic Diversity
Linguistic Diversity
Cox, Murray P.
Hudjashov, Georgi
Sim, Andre
Savina, Olga
Karafet, Tatiana M.
Sudoyo, Herawati
Lansing, John Stephen
Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation
description At least since the Neolithic, humans have largely lived in networks of small, traditional communities. Often socially isolated, these groups evolved distinct languages and cultures over microgeographic scales of just tens of kilometers. Population genetic theory tells us that genetic drift should act quickly in such isolated groups, thus raising the question: do networks of small human communities maintain levels of genetic diversity over microgeographic scales? This question can no longer be asked in most parts of the world, which have been heavily impacted by historical events that make traditional society structures the exception. However, such studies remain possible in parts of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, where traditional ways of life are still practiced. We captured genome-wide genetic data, together with linguistic records, for a case–study system—eight villages distributed across Sumba, a small, remote island in eastern Indonesia. More than 4,000 years after these communities were established during the Neolithic period, most speak different languages and can be distinguished genetically. Yet their nuclear diversity is not reduced, instead being comparable to other, even much larger, regional groups. Modeling reveals a separation of time scales: while languages and culture can evolve quickly, creating social barriers, sporadic migration averaged over many generations is sufficient to keep villages linked genetically. This loosely-connected network structure, once the global norm and still extant on Sumba today, provides a living proxy to explore fine-scale genome dynamics in the sort of small traditional communities within which the most recent episodes of human evolution occurred.
author2 Earth Observatory of Singapore
author_facet Earth Observatory of Singapore
Cox, Murray P.
Hudjashov, Georgi
Sim, Andre
Savina, Olga
Karafet, Tatiana M.
Sudoyo, Herawati
Lansing, John Stephen
format Article
author Cox, Murray P.
Hudjashov, Georgi
Sim, Andre
Savina, Olga
Karafet, Tatiana M.
Sudoyo, Herawati
Lansing, John Stephen
author_sort Cox, Murray P.
title Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation
title_short Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation
title_full Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation
title_fullStr Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation
title_full_unstemmed Small Traditional Human Communities Sustain Genomic Diversity over Microgeographic Scales despite Linguistic Isolation
title_sort small traditional human communities sustain genomic diversity over microgeographic scales despite linguistic isolation
publishDate 2017
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86630
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44155
_version_ 1725985683154141184