A three-stage colonization model for the peopling of the Americas.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We evaluate the process by which the Americas were originally colonized and propose a three-stage model that integrates current genetic, archaeological, geological, and paleoecological data. Specifically, we analyze mitochondrial and nuclear genetic data by using complementary coalescent models of demographic history and incorporating non-genetic data to enhance the anthropological relevance of the analysis.

Methodology/findings

Bayesian skyline plots, which provide dynamic representations of population size changes over time, indicate that Amerinds went through two stages of growth approximately 40,000 and approximately 15,000 years ago separated by a long period of population stability. Isolation-with-migration coalescent analyses, which utilize data from sister

SUBMITTER: Kitchen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2223069 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature