A story of 30 Malay women and 3 proto-European men.

This is not the plot or character list for a pornographic (though it might be an interesting one) but instead a story of human evolution, migration and settlement.

In this file photo, a Malagasy traditional singing and dancing group is seen performing in the streets of Antananarivo, in 2002.

In this file photo, a Malagasy traditional singing and dancing group is seen performing in the streets of Antananarivo, in 2002.

The first part is how several dozen Indonesian women became the ‘Eves’ that settled Madagascar 1,200 years ago:

A team led by molecular biologist Murray Cox of New Zealand’s Massey University delved into DNA for clues to explain the migration riddle. They looked for markers handed down in chromosomes through the maternal line, in DNA samples offered by 266 people from three ethnic Malagasy groups.Twenty-two percent of the samples had a local variant of the “Polynesian motif,” a tiny genetic characteristic that is found among Polynesians, but rarely so in western Indonesia. In one Malagasy ethnic group, one in two of the samples had this marker. If the samples are right, about 30 Indonesian women founded the Malagasy population “with a much smaller, but just as important, biological contribution from Africa,” it says.

http://phys.org/news/2012-03-indonesian-eves-colonised-madagascar-years.html

The second is how the majority of European men can trace their lineage to just three male ancestors. A new study, also conducted by tracing DNA, added a piece to the puzzle: the Y chromosomes of the majority of European men can be traced back to just three individuals living between 3,500 and 7,300 years ago.

the Y chromosomal tree generated from our European samples, with their most recent shared ancestor at the top. Different major branches are displayed in different colours. Credit: Nature Communications

the Y chromosomal tree generated from our European samples, with their most recent shared ancestor at the top. Different major branches are displayed in different colours. Credit: Nature Communications

http://phys.org/news/2015-05-bronze-age-men-fathered-thirds-europeans.html

About Stan Flouride

THIS BLOG IS ALWAYS AD-FREE I make stuff and do things.
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2 Responses to A story of 30 Malay women and 3 proto-European men.

  1. cwoverfi says:

    I find this recent DNA tracing so interesting. Nice post.

    Like

  2. Bela says:

    Stan– I’ve tried emailing you at gmail and yahoo. I still have the Comcast email.

    Like

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