A holistic picture of Austronesian migrations revealed by phylogeography of Pacific paper mulberry.

ABSTRACT: The peopling of Remote Oceanic islands by Austronesian speakers is a fascinating and yet contentious part of human prehistory. Linguistic, archaeological, and genetic studies have shown the complex nature of the process in which different components that helped to shape Lapita culture in Near Oceania each have their own unique history. Important evidence points to Taiwan as an Austronesian ancestral homeland with a more distant origin in South China, whereas alternative models favor South China to North Vietnam or a Southeast Asian origin. We test these propositions by studying phylogeography of paper mulberry, a common East Asian tree species introduced and clonally propagated since prehistoric times across the Pacific for making barkcloth, a practical and symbolic component of Austronesi

SUBMITTER: Chang CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4640734 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature